Yakov S. is a 23-year-old art history student in Kharkiv. In this article, which appeared in American Purpose, he describes his life during the invasion.
It is 5:30 in the morning on February 24, and war has broken out in my city and country. I wake up to a phone call from my friend. His voice is convulsive; he is shouting. The war has started, he says. We’re leaving. You have to leave, too. Run.
My first thought: Where are my parents? I rush out of my house to look for them.
The war actually started around 2:00 in the morning. My parents, when I find them, believe everything will be fine. They live in the highest area of the city; you can watch almost everything from their windows. For months, I’ve been able to see the sadness, fear, and despair washing over us. But now the war has arrived. Its terror has hit our hometown of Kharkiv.
I am a Jew—by nationality, as we used to think of it under the Soviets. We still have my grandmother’s wedding veil from her marriage near Poltava at the end of the 19th century. But my great-grandmother was a Cossack who spoke Ukrainian. I was not a Ukrainian patriot; I never understood people who would shout, “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!” I thought they were just trying to sell the country to Europe and America. But I was a local patriot—of Kharkiv. And I feel that patriotism starting to wash over me.
As I read the news, I get more and more worried. The attack is coming from all sides—the separatist-controlled territory of Donbas, the pro-Putin Belarus, the previously Russian-seized Crimea. There are air strikes on all the regional centers. People are starting to rush toward Poland by car and train. Borders are closing. Some have managed to flee, but many don’t have time. Others have decided to join the fight. Some are hiding. Panic is spreading
Friends and relatives gather at our house. Around 11:00 a.m. we walk to the bomb shelter in the city center. The country is surrounded by war.
The government confidently says we are repelling the invaders. We will fight. I didn’t think such valor and will existed in the world any longer. I thought the real heroes were gone decades ago, the heroes of the Second World War posthumously awarded medals for defending the country from the Germans.
As in 1941, without a declaration of war, the fascists are attacking our country. And the most terrible thing, what breaks the heart, is that we are attacked by those who fought with us. Who have always been with us, our brothers, our people. The southeast of Ukraine has always been filled with our brothers, yes, brothers; we have always been one people with the Russians. And now they are rapidly and confidently bombing our city.
They start with strategic objects. They are getting closer to the city. Our military is giving a strong rebuff to the Russians. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are working, our tanks are coming. I’ve always been merciful. Now there is no mercy in me. They came to kill us. On Russian television they say that we attacked them! It brings tears to our children and anger to our military.
Today is February 26, day three in the bomb shelter. I have anger, hatred. They came to kill and they will be killed. To quote the classic, “Whoever comes to us with the sword, from the sword they will leave.” Because of the bombing every day, there is no way to get out. We just go outside for a cigarette break, or just to breathe outside air. And the most important thing is to watch the news, to find out from loved ones whether they are alive and healthy.
Our grandparents are old; they refuse to come to the bomb shelter. Many Kharkiv residents hide in basements. One’s heart doesn’t slow down, not for a single minute. We get out of here just to find out the news and check on loved ones. Sitting here with only thoughts, I wish I could go out and not hear the bad news.
As the war began, I called my ex-girlfriend, saying whatever had happened to us, whatever happens next, I still love you. I ask her to take care of herself.
The regional administration building is now the military headquarters. Sometimes you want to believe that it’s just a dream. My St. Petersburg relative says the same thing. He says that all the people there are terrified. They are Russian intellectuals; they have different opinions, like many Russian stars who are shocked by Putin’s war against his own people.
Tell us, modern Hitler, what wrong have we done to you? What kind of Nazis are you talking about here in Ukraine? There’s nothing like that here. We defend our country; we love every citizen of our country. Be damned. I hate you. I hate everyone who comes to us with war. I pray to God to save my family, our country. I believe in the mothers of those soldiers whom this devil sends to die in our country. I hope these mothers will have their say about these military men who fought alongside ours in Afghanistan.
I believe in those people who are ready to go to the squares of Russia to say no to war. They come out into the squares of Europe and America. And they say “no to war.” And those who now burn Russian passports.
I believe in our victory. God bless our soldiers. From the news and stories of loved ones, the war is going on throughout the border regions, as well as air strikes throughout the country. Air strikes are under way in all districts of Kharkiv. The modern Hitler says that we are saving Ukraine, we do not touch residential areas; but these creatures shoot at all residential areas. They go to our homes, to the roads. Rockets stick out of the asphalt.
Thousands of Russian soldiers are dying, more than died in the two Chechen wars. I feel sorry for these young guys who are dying. But they came to kill; in the end we will kill them.
We sit in the bomb shelter. We believe in the end of the war, in our victory. I’m waiting for the moment when I can get into private bakeries to help bake bread for our military and prepare their meals. I hope to replenish my bank account soon to transfer money to those in need. My work has stopped. I do not earn anything now.
I am twenty-three years old. Since the age of sixteen, I have been engaged with Russian art. I write about our pre-revolutionary artists. Today, I have become a little disgusted by the very word “Russian.” I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Now I think about one thing: life and health, loved ones and our soldiers.
A peaceful sky is overhead. I am reminded of Shevchenko’s words in Ukrainian: “Utni, father, gray eagle! Let me cry. Let me see my Ukraine one more time!” The troops are very close to our city, they are close to our capital—Kyiv, hold on. I believe in our president. I see that he is not running away, as Putin would have him run away. I believe in our citizens and our soldiers, true heroes. I believe in the guy who sacrificed his life; so that the Russian troops would not go further, he blew up a bridge.
I believe in God. I believe in the people who died in these first three days, who will complain to God for us. I remember a child wounded in Yugoslavia, a small wounded child with a torn stomach: “I will soon meet with God, I will complain to him about you, I will tell him everything.”
I am proud to say, “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!”
Please open the link and read the rest of this article, which transports you to Ukraine.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So moving!
There was a time when reptilian creatures like Putin could conduct their atrocities outside the purview of the world. No more. The UN needs to act now to send peacekeeping troops into Ukraine to repulse the murderers.
Repulsive, reptilian. Apt. Don’t you expect to see a forked tongue pop out of his mouth when he opens it? He lies without a second of hesitation. He is “liberating” Ukraine from the grip of “neo-Nazis,” like Zelensky. Why didn’t the people of Ukraine welcome the Russian troops with flowers? Why are they fighting and dying to keep them out of their country? What will be left of Ukraine when hostilities end? A giant graveyard? Cities of rubble? Destroyed hospitals, apartment houses, theaters, schools, universities? Putin lies. What a despicable person.
Autocrat
Autocrats eventually die
They always do
They live in boxes
with blood-colored glasses
Yet too many follow
Blindly
Autocrats eventually die
They rage as they are
pulled to eternal darkness
They take others with them
The carnage is complete
Yet still others believe
Autocrats eventually die
A psychopathy ensues
Empathy does not exist
Brutality is not acknowledged
Although admired
Existential fear implores
Autocrats eventually die
Many sigh relief
Pretend that this
will never happen again
We repeat our betrayal
Forget empathy
Forget love
Another autocrat arrives
Another autocrat bemoans
We are helpless again
Until more die
Another autocrat dies
Our diligence renewed
Humanity forgets
Once again pursued
Paul
Autocrats depend upon erasing history, on our not remembering. And so we must not forget to remember. And so we must practice eternal vigilance and teach this to our children. Meanwhile,
Slava Ukraini!
And thank you for this, Paul!
The city government of Mariupol, Ukaine, just issued the following statement via the social messaging service Telegram (one of the few still operating in Russia). I translated this using Google Translate, which I suspect is reasonably accurate.
The occupiers are forcibly forcing people to leave Ukraine for Russia
Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents were deported to Russia. The occupiers illegally removed people from the Left Bank district and shelters in the building of the sports club, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing. Fighting took place in these areas. To save the lives of Mariupol residents, the Armed Forces of Ukraine withdrew from crowded places, which was used by the aggressor.
t is known that the captured Mariupol residents were taken to filtration camps, where the occupiers checked people’s phones and documents. After the inspection, some Mariupol residents were redirected to remote cities in Russia, the fate of others remains unknown.
“What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people. It is hard to imagine that in the 21st century people will be forcibly deported to another country. Not only are Russian troops destroying our peaceful Mariupol, they have gone even further and started deporting Mariupol residents. All war crimes on the part of Russia should be punished the most severely, “said Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko.
Forced deportations of civilians is a War Crime under the Rome Statute. See below.
This is yet another level of nadir. Cannot even digest this one yet. 20thC redux. And we imagined it was in the past.
we imagined it was in the past. It’s difficult to read that, bethree, without weeping. You are exactly right.
“Pope Francis Condemns War in Ukraine Again Without Naming Putin” (Daily Beast)
A refusal to name the guilty creates a void that weakens the work of those fighting against injustice and it abets the enemy. Spin that implies a phantom enemy has as its purpose- self-protection.
He didn’t even mention Russia as the aggressor, however, it’s certainly better than saying nothing.
This from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty web site: quote – “It is a senseless massacre where every day slaughters and atrocities are being repeated,” said the pope. Francis has so far avoided mentioning Russia by name, continuing a tradition in which the pontiff refrains from condemning by name one side or the other in a war.” end quote
That’s a very strange tradition considering that Putin and Russia are the obvious malefactors. He should break with tradition and name names in this case since it’s such a blatant example of naked and evil aggression by Putin The Gangster.
He did mention Ukraine: “The violent aggression against Ukraine is unfortunately not slowing down,” the pontiff told about 30,000 people in St. Peter’s Square during his weekly address on March 20. end quote
From reuters.com: “The Holy See is willing to do everything to put itself at the service of peace,” the pope said, adding that two Roman Catholic cardinals had gone to Ukraine to help those in need — Konrad Krajewski from Poland and Canada’s Michael Czerny.
Andriy Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, told Reuters he was “very, very happy” that Francis had called the conflict a war.
“Even if the pope did not say the word ‘Russia’, everyone in the world knows who the aggressor that invaded us is and who started this unprovoked war,” he said. end quote
63% of white Catholics who attend church regularly voted for Trump
in 2020. They voted for him after he said he planned to destroy NATO.
Which do you think has more power to stop Putin- the minority liberal head of the Vatican or the public policy of the two-party U.S. political
system?
Joe- I’m glad to see that you understand the flaw in a Church policy that “refrains from…”. I presume that you also see the flaw in its tribalists’ corollary, the demand that a political power like the American Catholic Church must not be singled out unless another sect (phantom or not) is trotted out for balance.
Considering the cheerleading conducted by the Russian Orthodox Church, Some Christian denominations in this world have some things to answer for.
In his sermon on this subject, Patriarch Kirill said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was justified because Ukraine allowed Pride parades and that any country that did that was bringing about the end of civilization. I’m not exaggerating this in the least. His words.
SO much for “love thy neighbor.”
Yup. Murder “sinners” under the banner of “The Prince of Peace.” The Church has done a lot of that over the millennia.
Having spent my entire life in the South, I am very familiar with the Evangelical Old Testament Christianity that sees no conflict with advocating and acting on violence against “liberal heretics” (Full disclosure: I am an active Episcopalian). They know their pithy biblical quotes but struggle to understand context. Leaders like the Russian Patriarch come from a dogma of absolute obedience to any form of Christo-Nationalism. Pope Frances struggles because he is unable to break from the vision of church as empire and unwilling to confront the burgeoning conservative movement that is doing all that it can to take over the Catholic Church.
Too many here in the US hold this POV:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caedite_eos._Novit_enim_Dominus_qui_sunt_eius.
Kind of ironic that this was under the Papal reign of one Pope Innocent huh? Not so much.
Yes!!!
And ofc they did this because the Cathars taught and practiced vegetarianism, feminism, and free love. Their gnostic dualism was heretical to the Church, and their beliefs, via the troubadours and trouveres, strongly influenced the literature of courtly love. They were known to live exceptionally saintly lives.
Paul– What does this mean: “he [Pope Francis] is unable to break from the vision of church as empire”?
He is part of an evangelical christian sect that is principally one man lifetime term rule. Ostensibly all Christian churches are evangelical institutions that they pursue bringing non-christians into the fold. However, the difference in the Roman Catholic Church, as with the Russian Orthodox Church, is that it was born out of empire and has followed that form of governance throughout its history. Although Popes are no longer taking their flock to war asserting its view as a world power as it did in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church as an institution, although Frances himself challenges this precedent, has a history of backing national aggression that supports Catholic doctrine and prominence.
Paul,
The Taplin blog summarized a piece of the doctrine, man over woman, white over black, Christian over non-Christian and straight over gay.
I getcha. Thanks, Paul.
Yesterday, the United Nations International Court of Justice ordered Russia to stop its military activities in Ukraine. Russia is continuing to act illegally, in violation of the order of the court.
Right now, Russia has committed and is continuing to commit Crimes against Humanity as defined in the Rome Statute of the International Court of Justice, which was overwhelmingly adopted by the United Nations. In particular, it is violating the provision against The Crime of Aggression, Article 5(1)(d) and the following provisions of Article 7, which outlines Crimes against Humanity:
(1)(a) Murder;
(1)(b) Extermination;
(1)(c) Enslavement; [Russian soldiers are holding employees of captured facilities at gunpoint and forcing them to work under this duress.]
(1)(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population; [See the report from the city government of Mariupol, above.]
(1)(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; [Russians have been kidnapping and holding imprisoned the elected officials of Ukrainian cities.]
(1) (g) Rape; [Yes, there have been numerous reports of Russian soldiers in Ukraine bursting into homes and committing rape.]
(1)(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
It is also violating a great many provisions of the War Crimes provision, Article 8(2)(a): (i) Willfull killing; (iii) Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health; (iv) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property; (vii) Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; (viii) Taking of hostages and many provisions
of Article 8(2) (b), including (i) and (ii) attacks on civilian persons and object and (v) attacking and bombarding towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended and which are not military objectives
and of Article 8(2)(e), including (iii) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in humanitarian assistance, (iv) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, (v) Pillaging a town or place; and (vi) Committing rape.
So, Russia has committed and is continuing to commit the Crime of Aggression, Crimes against Humanity, and War Crimes in Ukraine. In addition, it has used banned weapons against civilian targets (cluster bombs) and has fielded other banned weapons (thermobaric bombs). Those responsible for this (looking at you, Vlad) must be indicted by and tried in the International Court.
cx: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Thanks, Bob
Media report that AstraZeneca continues operations in Russia, phone number, 1-800-236-9933.
Nestle continues operations in Russia, an online form is available at the site.
Why is Astra-Zeneca a problem?
In general, the goal is three-fold –
(1) Russia exports $5 bil in goods to the U.S., reduce the amount to zero.
(2) Eliminate as many Russian jobs as possible. AZ is conducting clinical trials in Russia.
(3) Make Russia an economic pariah for international companies.
Here is how two of our skilled, compassionate USA kids are putting their smarts to work.
19 Year Old Avi Schiffmann! 2 year ago he built an open-source website tracking COVID-19 case data & got millions of hits. Now he and his pal Marco Burstein have created a website connecting thousands of Ukrainian refugees with hosts around the world offering them a safe haven. Have a look.
https://www.ukrainetakeshelter.com/
This is freaking awesome!!!
A reporter recently asked Putin at a news conference why all his political opponents end up dead or in prison. Putin responded by saying that he had to prevent in Russia the kind of thing that happened in the US with the BLM protests–you know, the ones against evil stuff like this:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jajuan-henderson-police-shooting-lawsuit_n_6235fddde4b046c938dc5d74?fbclid=IwAR0gRGqq8uEbDN9vomwgTpHTtcPKp0zLmx-IknzlNyq6lJrCzehSJmNuGvI
Every day, reports like this. And yet some posters here have claimed that there is no such thing as systemic racism in the United States. It’s breathtaking what nonsense some people believe.
No surprise Putin paints BLM protests as ‘the kind of thing that happened in the US.’ He squelches any political protest in streets with prison sentences. I imagine he paints BLM protests to his people as having destroyed whole cities. The sort of thing antique callers-in to CSPAN’s daily Wash Jrnl show saw on some Fox show & actually believe. Fortunately in this country, BLM are still free to conduct peaceful protests in street!
The isolation of millions of Americans on the Faux News Galapagos has bred much evil here. For example, if anywhere in the United States, an immigrant or person of color commits a crime, Fox leads with it. If any of millions of peaceful protestors commits a crime, they lead with that. It’s constant propaganda and distortion, like Ted Cruz’s shameful insinuations against Ketanji Brown Jackson today, attempting to smear her as some sort of extremist promoter of CRT and child pornography. Completely unwarranted and shameless and sickening. What Cruz tried to do to Jackson today may be the all-time nadir for any U.S. Senator. It was utterly revolting.
Ted Cruz has the moral compass of parasitic wasp larvae.
Bob– “the Faux News Galapagos”
My new fave epithet for the evil empire 😀
https://uscnpm.org/2022/03/12/hu-wei-russia-ukraine-war-china-choice/
Zelensky just banned 11 opposition parties, supposedly because they have ties to Russia. But the parties include at least three socialist parties – we’re supposed to believe Russia supports socialism??? It’s funny how Putin is both an evil oligarch and a raging commie. One other party with alleged ties to Russia was sanctioned by Russia 4 years ago. Methinks there may be other reasons for banning those parties.
https://news.antiwar.com/2022/03/20/zelensky-bans-political-opposition-nationalizes-media-to-create-unified-information/
I would ask what democracy we think we’re supporting in Ukraine, but Democrats have already shown they have no problem throwing opposition parties off the ballot, so I guess “democracy” means voting for who you’re told to vote for, which is why I thought we were supposed to hate Putin, but what do I know?
We know you don’t hate Putin. You hate Biden. Why do you feel the need to defend a man who orders the unrestricted bombardment of civilians? After he reduces the cities of Ukraine to rubble, will you feel any sorrow for them, or are you totally committed to Putin?
Why doesn’t she hate Putin?
She can’t be this deluded. You really don’t think she is a troll? Maybe she is mentally ill. As I have said many times, other folks on the left criticize the US and they criticize Putin.
dienne77 criticizes only the US. Actually, she only criticizes the Democrats! And the rare Republican who agrees with the Democrats.
Well, let’s hear it for Russia, which has only one political party, where elections have only one candidate!
Oh, how unconscionable! Zelenskyy has TEMPORARILY banned, during a period of martial law, political parties THAT HAVE TIES TO THE FREAKING COUNTRY CURRENTLY KILLING HIS PEOPLE AND REDUCING THEIR HOMES TO RUBBLE. Parties that are, like you, just fine with Russia’s murdering babies and grandmothers, bombing schools and theatres and hospitals, breaking every norm of international citizenship.
Seriously, Dienne? Just when I think that you have posted the craziest thing you can post, you top yourself.
And if Putin is a Communist or a Socialist, then I am the freaking Easter Bunny. No sane person thinks that. Putin is a Putinist. Period. Though a lot of characteristics go along with that, e.g., being a thief, a fascist, a homophobe, a sexist, a mass murderer, an international scofflaw and pariah, and an insecure little reptile. Happy Ostara, Dienne. Hippity Hop. I’m going to have to save these posts from you, D. Rarely have I seen such totally looney stuff. Keep it coming!
I am not a religious person, but if I were, I would be praying for the day when the International Criminal Court sentences this little creep to hang.
OK, yes. I know that the ICC cannot apply the death penalty. And in general, I vehemently oppose the death penalty. But I would not be saddened to see a special tribunal give this murderous little creep, the Great and Powerful Putin, what he has earned.
And no, Putin is not an oligarch either. Oligarchs are his bobbleheads and wind-up toys. He is the Krestniy Otets, the Godfather, the Big Boss, of a lawless Mafia state.
In June of 1943, while the United States was at war with Hitler’s Germany, and while that country was carrying out its “final solution,” the U.S. arrested Fritz Julius Kuhn, head of the Nazi German American Bund and interred him in a federal prison. I suppose that you imagine that he too should have been allowed to operate freely in the United States at that time, Dienne. Get freaking real. The country is at war with an invader and operating under martial law because of that!!!
That web site that D-77 showed the link to is a LIBERTARIAN web site that allies itself with the GOP!!!! Is D-77 a libertarian/GOPer? Molto interessante! Kyle Anzalone, who wrote the article, is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest. Kyle Anzalone is a libertarian hack and that’s being kind.
OMG, someone who is pro-Putin has the chutzpah to call themselves “anti-war”?
Talk about Orwellian.
Popular Information (behind a paywall), “revealed a network of pundits and groups funded by Koch have been publicly advocating against imposing economic sanctions on Russia.”
You could cite better sources, and there are many. Probably not a great move (although not particularly new– nor significant, security-wise) per this Aljazeera analysis https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/21/why-did-ukraine-suspend-11-pro-russia-parties Strikes me as too broad-brush; could be seen as simply symbolic, considering they’re under siege by Russia. Any significance will only play out if Ukraine survives as a sovereign state…
By the way, he did not ban far-right parties like Svoboda or Azov.
So you cannot pause to express sympathy for the people of Ukraine or the destruction of their homes and landmarks?
That’s why I think dienne77 is a troll. Didn’t you think she was a parent interested in education?
Is there a parent anywhere who could really be so cold when faced with Putin’s warmongering? Who would defend that warmongering? If that was once a real person, her account was likely hacked.
Putin is murdering little children, right now, Dienne. Have you no shame?
We are mostly teachers here, if you haven’t noticed. We care about and for children.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60814913
D-77 has gone off the map into uncharted abysses and miasmas of total lunacy. Ukraine is being shredded to pieces, cities are being reduced to ashes, masses of people are being slaughtered because of Putin and all she can do is rant and rave against Zelenskyy?!! What in the name of all that is holy is D-77 thinking? Where are her priorities. Russia is a one party system, the Putin Party, and no mention about that. Geez, this is off the wall nutsiism, as in nuts. All I can gather is that D-77 really hates Ukraine and Ukrainians for some unknown reason. OR……..more likely…….this is her way of gaining attention which she so obviously craves.
Extremely well said, Joe Jersey!
D-77, what about Kyle Anzalone, isn’t he a right wing libertarian GOPish propagandist?
No matter how many lies Putin spreads, it’s important to remember how the world sees the Russian attack on Ukraine.
President Zelensky was elected with a 73% plurality of the Ukrainian voters. President Putin sends competitors into exile, jails, or kills them.
Zelensky is not afraid to leave Ukraine and stays to keep his people motivated and defend his country. Putin sends “hit-squads” to eliminate the legal Ukrainian president.
Zelensky sits at his conference table breaking bread with Ukrainian patriots. Putin has his Russian military “advisors” and others sit 30 feet away from him.
Zelensky bravely fights the illegal invasion and war against Ukraine. President Putin hires Russian food tasters to test his food before eating it.
President Zelensky is a hero and must prevail. Putin is guilty of war crimes against a sovereign nation, the head of a corrupt kleptocracy, and following in the footsteps of dictators before him.
Dictators never see their greatest enemy, that which is in themselves. They truly never learn what it means to be human.
The difference really is stark.
What a beautiful outpouring, from the heart, by a 23yo native of Kharkiv– a Jew, whose great-grandmother was a Ukrainian-speaking Cossack. Who has always thought of Russians as brothers, yet they are now bombing his home city. He quickly learns to hate the Russians: “what wrong have we done to you? What kind of Nazis are you talking about here in Ukraine? There’s nothing like that here. We defend our country; we love every citizen of our country. Be damned.” He begins his diary on 2/24: within 8 days he is leaving his country, knowing it may be forever, and sadly leaving father behind to care for the sick grandfather: “They don’t want to go. They want to stay where their ancestors are buried”– he leaves with the thought “Do you think there is a chance for me to fly to America as a refugee?”
Are we taking Ukrainian refugees? If not, why not?
The Biden Administration says that it is looking for ways to fast track the applications of Ukrainian refugees. Russians are being moved to the back of the line, which is bizarre, given that a lot of dissidents are fleeing Russia right now. I suppose that this is out of fear of letting in more Russian assets and agents.