Dear Ignorant People -

You're not alone in this world!!!

What is happening and why is this important. 

As a teenage girl who lives in America for 5 years going to 6 years. I have experienced many interesting comments made toward me during my life. I have born and raised in Ukraine a country just next to Russia, Since Ukraine is a pretty young country, gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, a lot of people didn't know it existed.  When I came to America in 2016 moving from the only place I could call "home"  and leaving my family, it was 2 years after the crisis in Kyiv. In Kyiv 2 years ago was a brutal rebellion against the former president of Ukraine who wanted to cancel all the progress Ukraine has made toward joining nato. Viktor Yanukovych (Former president) has been trying to connect to Russia. This rebellion in Euromaidan of innocent citizens who didn't want to go back to Russia or the USSR, started as a peaceful rebellion wanting freedom until the president made the police attack and kill the citizens. That was the start of the war against Russia trying to take over Ukraine politically. Plus Crimea when Purin sent troops there to influence people into "wanting" to be part of Russia. 

During this riot, you can see this death caused by police who were sent by the president.

Riot police escort a man during clashes between anti-government protesters with Interior Ministry members in Kyiv on Feb. 18, 2014.

8 years later... It's 2022 and the war is still going on... it's worse now. I like how Americans don't even know what's going on but still make ignorant comments. I mean, I met with a few comments like "you are from Russia right?" "Ukraine is Russia", all this was commented on in spam for 6 years it's funny how people don't know the history of their country most of the time and here they are saying what is right and what is wrong in the country they didn't even know existed. I mean my own friends said " why even fight Russia just like why not stop" I mean sure but then all my family and friends would be under Russian rule and of course see them die.

It breaks my heart that people who don't see what's happening would say things they think is irrelevant but in reality, are knives piercing not just my body but my parents and everyone who is experiencing both fear and uselessness. Why uselessness? Well, what can you do when you are more than millions of miles away. The amount of fear my mom is experiencing cause of the war is just unimaginable. 

She didn’t expect to witness a family being killed in an apparent Russian mortar attack. Even the photographers sometimes get shocked about what is happening.

My mom clutched a passport and valuables while trembling underneath the blanket causing the fear of different awful outcomes of the siren warnings. Not so long my mom heard explosions. Explosions coming from Russian drones (targeting civilians) that were shot down by our protection system in Odessa. While I am thankful that my family is not injured but what about people who are forced to live underneath the subways, who can't escape, and who are under attack for months. It's easy for people to say in America. They have never been under attack for the most part. But my heart every time I hear that my relatives and my country don't deserve to exist... I just get lost and hurt.  

 

Imagine being a child during this time... Your father was called to protect the country. You are stuck underneath the ground listening to gunshots and bombs falling down on your one's
former home. "many residents hunkered down in bomb shelters, basements, and subway stations." This is what a day to day life is like today for these children. Do they deserve the suffering?  

So I want you to understand that yes you should see these pictures. Why?  Well, let's just say, Would you actually know what is happening in Ukraine if it wasn't for those images? Would you actually know how bad the president of Russia really is? Sure you might have thought "yeah he is stealing from people and stuff like that" but the magnitude of his crimes doesn't stop there. Him targeting so what military buildings and then proceeds to destroy hospitals, maternity hospitals, kindergartens, theaters, supermarkets, and malls with innocent citizens. His soldiers are bringing hell to citizens and they don't even know why. Why did they don't know? Cause all those images you see were marked as "fake" to their citizens. They say Ukrainian actors made the Russians look bad. It's the Ukrainians who kill their own and Russia is just trying to bring "peace" (death) and "freedom" (invasion).

So that's why it's important to know the truth and see those pictures so you won't be like those brainwashed citizens who are too afraid to speak up against their government. 

I just want you to know that it's not only the Ukrainians that suffer in their country but also those who are in America. So please before actually saying something rude and making fun of the war, put yourself in those shoes, and think what if you were in their place and you have been told to suffer alone, that it's fake and that you have to give up. 

Well, I'll tell you what we are not giving up and we will bring to light what Russia is doing. That's why it's important to view the images and read the articles from time to time. If you don't then don't go around saying things about the war like you know what's happening.

FROM: KIRA LAUTA, A CITIZEN OF UKRAINE.