As Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Russia’s neighboring nation Ukraine entered its sixth day, the death toll began to mount. And though Ukrainian forces had managed to hold off Russian forces in the capital of Kyiv, on Tuesday, as a 40 mile long Russian military convoy headed to Ukraine from the north, US officials feared the worst was yet to come.
On Sunday, President Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert.
The US and allies have applied financial sanctions against Russia, and the country’s currency, the ruble, fell to a value less than a penny.
Even Switzerland, known for being neutral, announced it would match EU sanctions on Russia.
In a phone call on Tuesday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and US president Joe Biden discussed sanctions imposed on Russia and military assistance to Ukraine.
President Zelensky has pressed the west to create a no fly zone over significant parts of his country, but US officials have said a no-fly zone could escalate into a direct military confrontation with Russia.
“We have a responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t spiral out of control that escalates even further into concern for full-fledged war in Europe involving NATO allies,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.
On Tuesday, Greenwich residents and elected officials participated in a rally outside town hall in support of Ukraine.
The event was organized by Olga Litvinenko, who was Miss Connecticut in 2017. Though she had been able to evacuate her mother just days before the invasion of Ukraine, the invasion by Russians has locked in many Ukrainians.
Miss Litvinenko’s mother Tamara, who attended the rally, said she was very worried about her relatives.
Attending with her three dogs, including two strays she adopted from Ukraine, Tamara said both her son and daughter Olga were born in Ukraine but arrived in the US when they were 6 and 3 respectively.
“I’m not sleeping,” Tamara said. “My younger sister and her family, and my aunt, 73, who is like my mother, and my cousins, they are all in Ukraine. They are in a city in a very bad situation. They ran in the night to shelters. They had prepared, and had enough food, to a certain extent. But they are in danger.”
First Selectman Fred Camillo urged residents to do what they could to help.
“Throughout history we have all witnessed bad actors around the globe – tyrants who spread their tyranny far and beyond their borders. But we’ve also witnessed peoples, nations and leaders exhibiting stoicism, heroic leadership and bravery. We saw that in 1940 when Winston Churchill and the British people endured over eight months of constant bombing. We saw them hold out and they won.”
“In 2022 we’re seeing the exact same thing in Ukraine,” he said. “Anything you can do to help these people is greatly appreciated. No act is too small. No gift, no thought is too small.”
“These are very, very brave people, and they don’t deserve what’s going on there now,” Camillo added.
“I’m very happy that I was able to get my mother and two rescue dogs to America before the war erupted, but not everybody is as lucky,” Olga Litvinenko said. “My great aunt and our family and friends ares still in Kyiv.”
Sharing remarks from a remote location, the US Senator from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal spoke of boycotts and sanctions against Russia, as well as military and arms aid to Ukraine.
“We are all Ukrainians,” he said. “We are all involved and engaged in this fierce, brave bold in defense of their freedoms and their homeland.”
He said just six weeks earlier he had visited Ukraine where he met with president Zelensky and met everyday Ukrainians.
“I knew they were determined and courageous in their dedication to defend against the potential invasion. I think of the men in the subways, or cellars, or basements – or fighting in their streets in their neighborhoods or fields, enduring the threat of death or injury. They are giving the world a lesson in courage and conviction.”
Blumenthal said 600,000 Ukrainian refugees were seeking to escape the country.
“We have an obligation to do more,” he continued. “The sanctions have been effective. Vladimir Putin has miscalculated, not only in the courage and determination of the Ukrainians, but he’s also miscalculated and failed to appreciate the unity brought to fight the Russian invasion – this brutal, craven assault. He’s become increasingly cruel and violent.”
Blumenthal said sanctions needed to be extended to the largest banks – not just to the second and third largest banks.
“They need to crack down on (Putin’s) wealth and his family’s wealth, and his cronies, and their families, and all of their hangers-on,” he said. “His economy should be subject to crippling sanctions – heightening and escalating the ones imposed now, more arms aid, it’s flowing right now. The president will likely announce more in the State of the Union tonight, and more measures targeting Putin personally.”
He said Zelensky had given the world hope and been a hero.”But we know that the menace from the Russian military might is growing by the day.”
“The horror that Putin is throwing at Ukraine is a cause for outrage, and he is really a war criminal. He is a butcher, a KGB thug,” he said.
“We need a boycott of Russian goods – not only of vodka, but of energy products,” Blumenthal continued. “At the same time we need to alleviate some of the pressure on American gas prices, by suspending the 18.4 cent gas tax. We can do it without imperiling our highway trust fund by replenishing it from the treasury or the infrastructure program, and likewise releasing more product from the strategic petroleum reserve, pressuring the oil companies to produce more oil and gas, as well as OPEC to disperse more in the world market.”
State Senator Ryan Fazio said the entire town stood with Ukraine.
“As we speak and gather here, the proud people of Ukraine are left defending what is often taken for granted – the relative peace, comfort and security in the modern world. That world bears witness now to their bravery and patriotism. Men and women, both too old and too young to fight, are taking up arms in defense of their country.”
“Civilians are killed in their homes at the hands of Russian rockets. Defiant patriots are run over by tanks or shot dead by professional soldiers invading,” Fazio added. “Hundreds are dying by the day at the hands of a major power, and yet Ukrainians are defying the odds, fighting back and holding the line.”
State Rep Harry Arora (R-151) said, “I condemn in the strongest words possible, this heinous attack, this evil, this bad man, who is basically attacking a peaceful neighbor,” he said. “This is not okay. We stand in strong solidarity with our Ukrainian friends, not just those in Ukraine or with ties to Ukraine. We all stand strongly with the Ukrainian people.”
“The bravery of president Zelensky is an inspiration to every freedom loving person in the world,” Arora said. “They told him, flee your country, run away. He said I’m going to be here and fight to the end.”
State Rep Kimberly Fiorello (R-149) said her family was aware of tyranny and war.
“I am the grand daughter of a Korean refugee. My whole life I have known that liberty hangs in the balance. There is real evil out there that cherishes power and control and death. And on the other side of that, there are those who cherish family, liberty and life.”
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is sickening and unjustified,” she said. “I stand with all the citizens of Connecticut who are in awe of the determination of Ukrainian patriots who are doing everything they can to push back on the violence.”
Fiorello lashed out at the US Senate, saying, “The US Senate, which has purview of international affairs, had multiple opportunities to sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to break Putin’s hold on the European energy market. It should not take a hot war to do something that is obvious.”
State Rep Steve Meskers (D-1,50) was out of town Tuesday but emailed a comment saying, “As one of your State Representatives, I watch in horror as this unprovoked invasion occurs. When one nation ruthlessly attacks another there can be no justifying rationale.”
“The slaughter of innocents seeking only to remain free from a tyrant is repugnant. I stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
She said the Senate also had previous chances to take pre-emptive sanctions against the private wealth of Putin and his oligarch friends, but failed to do so.
Greenwich resident Natalie Danysh and her friend Stefan Peleschuk, who became friends through Plast, a Ukrainian scouting organization, said their adult children were fired up over the situation.
“Everyone is rallying around us,” Danysh said.
Mr. Peleschuk was born in the US, but his parents were from Ukraine.
“My wife is Ukrainian as well, and we have two adult children. Danylo has lived and worked in Ukraine for the past six years as a journalist. He is now based in Krakow, Poland. It is truly unbelievable what is happening in Ukraine.”
After the rally, Mr. Peleschuk shared the list of non profits below, noting they have a history of success and are trusted.
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Medical support
- RAZOM: Emergency Response – for tactical medical training. Help qualified war medics teach civilians first aid and provide them with medical supplies.
- Sunflower of Peace – for medical assistance and other necessities. Each IFAK (medical backpack) can save up to 10 lives.
- Lifeline Ukraine – for psychosocial support. Ukraine’s first suicide prevention hotline mobilized in response to alarming rates of veteran suicide.
Veterans and internally displaced persons
- People in Need: SOS Ukraine – for provision of food and sanitation packages, emergency shelter, psychosocial support, and more in Donetsk and Luhansk, both in territory under the control of the Ukrainian government and in territory not currently under government control.
- UN Crisis Relief: Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund – contributions are collected into a single, unearmarked fund and managed locally under UN leadership. As crises evolve, funds are made directly and immediately available to a wide range of partner organizations at the front lines of response. This way, funding reaches the people most in need when they need it.
- Revived Soldiers Ukraine – for provision of medical aid and sustainable living standards to wounded soldiers and members of their families.
- Ukrainian People With Disabilities in Crisis – helps Ukrainians with disabilities – especially those who want but cannot evacuate – protect themselves in case of emergency.
- Caritas Ukraine – provision of humanitarian assistance to various social groups and those impacted by the conflict. More information here.
- Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights Association – support LGBT military in their fight on the frontline and for equality of all citizens at home.
- CrimeaSOS – assistance to internally displaced persons from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. With the support and partnership of UNHCR, it promotes community initiatives for these groups.
- British-Ukraine Aid – assistance to vulnerable individuals who have been physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged, including the injured and wounded, orphaned children, the elderly, internally displaced persons and families who have lost their main earners. More information here.
Independent media
- NEW: Keep Ukraine’s media going – Media across the country continue to operate under the most challenging circumstances. They have shown extraordinary courage, but the reality on the ground is that most operations cannot continue from Ukraine alone. This fundraiser is aimed at helping media relocate, set-up back offices and continue their operations from neighboring countries.
- Kyiv Independent – repeat subscription/small donation here and one time donation here
- Ukraine Crisis Media Center – international strategic communications hub with active outreach to audiences both in Ukraine and abroad.
Children
- Help Us Help – donations will be used to fund the following: evacuation and relocation of staff and beneficiaries (children, scholars and veteran families), humanitarian aid delivery, and medical assistance for victims.
- Save the Children – Ukraine – distribute essential humanitarian aid to children and their families; deliver winter and hygiene kits; provide cash grants to families so they can meet basic needs like food, rent and medicines; provide access to safe, inclusive, quality education; work to help children overcome the mental and psychological impacts of conflict.
- Voices of Children – psychological/psychosocial support for children affected by the war.
- Saint Javelin – all proceeds of shirt and sticker sales go to a fund for the children of fallen and wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
- Toy Drive for the Children of Fallen Heroes – provides assistance for displaced people, orphans, and families of Ukrainian military who died or were hurt in action. Volunteers in Ukraine learn about needs on the ground and pass information on to us.
Education
- Ukrainian Leadership Academy – an educational program that aims to develop a generation of young leaders for Ukraine and the world. Over the course of a gap year, young adults learn to work in a team, set goals, develop projects, take responsibility for their lives and the country’s fate, and choose their future profession more consciously.
- Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation – invest in the lives of young and talented future leaders of Ukraine and the diaspora.
- Veteranius – help teach and employ veterans, volunteers and internally displaced persons in the IT sector and involve them in socially important projects.
- Bohdan Radchenko Stipend for Veterans – tuition for a Master’s at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (KMA), Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).
