Lately, the news has been filled with stories of destruction and resistance, despair and resilience. The crisis in Ukraine is impacting everything from world markets to military mobilization, upending the millions of lives in and out of the region. On the other side of the world, first-year UCLA doctoral student Olha Shevchenko, exp. Ph.D. ʼ26, a native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, reached out to us to bring awareness to what is happening and how people can help.
Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, is home to 1.4 million people. Among them are the family and friends of Olha, who have fled their homes to stay with other nearby relatives, further away from the fighting and rocket attacks. Olha was born and raised in Kharkiv, went to high school and received her bachelor’s degree there. Six months ago, she began her pursuit of a Ph.D. in mathematics, arriving in Los Angeles for the first time. She credits the community of brilliant professors, intelligent students and the beautiful location as to why she chose to study at UCLA.
But studying has been difficult as of late. Her time has been consumed by the constant worrying about the welfare and safety of her parents, siblings and grandparents, all in Kharkiv. “Their lives have been completely interrupted by war and they live in a different reality,” she says. “When I ask how they’re doing and they say ‘they are OK,’ it means something completely different than here. It means they are safe and alive.”
They’re supporting each other, they're standing for their country and they're not going to stop doing this until their home is free.
When asked if they intend to leave, she says, “The situation is quite difficult in terms of leaving the city or the country. The first problem is transportation is pretty hard (to find) and it’s not always safe. A lot of people do want to move but it’s not as simple. And it’s not that everybody wants to leave their home. They have everything there and leaving is too difficult for some people.”
Olha describes how incredibly proud she is of those who have remained. “Even those who are in shelters and are in direct danger, they still try to volunteer as much as possible to distribute food, to help those with medical needs, to provide transportation and other things.”
When there’s a pause in the fighting, she says the city has developed a structure to distribute food. Grocery stores give out free food through volunteers and the markets stay open despite long lines and extreme shortages.
The situation in Kharkiv has gotten dire. She says the Russians have targeted civilians and hospitals and other structures that have nothing to do with the military. The daily bombing has turned many parts of the city into rubble. Fortunately, Olha’s friends and family have stayed out of harm’s way.
As she recalls her homeland, Olha is filled with pride and emotion. “I feel warm just thinking about Ukraine’s beautiful culture, it’s beautiful literature and beautiful music…I actually love Ukrainian music. The language is so melodic. I really miss hearing it.”
She continues, “Another thing is how honest Ukrainian people are. People are really devoted to what they commit to. And if you’ve got a real friend, they’re going to support you no matter what. Especially right now, it’s incredible how Ukraine is so united, even though one of the purposes of this war was to separate the Ukrainian people, [instead] it brought them together. They’re supporting each other, they're standing for their country and they're not going to stop doing this until their home is free. This is what our country is - it is a free country!”
I'm going to say again that the easiest thing that everybody can do... is to share information
Filled with shock when the full-scale invasion began, Olha says she needed a couple of days to pull herself together because she couldn’t understand or believe what was happening. Then she began gathering ideas of what she could do from abroad. She says, “The first thing people should do if they want to support Ukraine is to understand the situation and share information about the difficulties people are facing. The Ukrainian people need their support because they are fighting and doing the best they can even though they are scared. People in other countries are raising their voices in support of Ukraine. They are sharing information, going to rallies and bringing attention to the situation. I have gone to rallies here in Los Angeles too; there are rallies happening almost every day.”
She says another way to help is by donating to Ukrainian causes; those that supply resources for the army, civilians and refugees; those that provide humanitarian aid and medical supplies. Listed below are her recommended organizations that offer direct relief to the Ukrainian people.
Olha says a third way to help is by volunteering. “That includes helping figure out the logistical details in order to host refugees in other countries. Some people are even willing to share their homes with Ukrainians who don’t have a home right now. Others can help match hosts and refugees from Ukraine.”
From Olha’s perspective, everyone can do something. “I have a lot of colleagues in math. We organized a project to provide (virtual) educational lessons and games for children in Ukraine to help them stay calm and distract them from their situation. Since a lot of families ended up in bomb shelters or can’t leave their houses, it’s been really hard psychologically, especially for the children.”
Ohla believes that “if you want to help, whatever your proficiency is, whatever your skills are, you definitely can. No matter how much time you have, no matter how much money you have, there’s always something you can do to support Ukraine.”
In today’s fast-changing news cycle, it’s easy to forget what happened a week ago once media coverage moves on to the next big story. So Olha reiterates the importance of keeping the world’s attention on Ukraine, lest we forget those who suffer or died from this war.
“I'm going to say again that the easiest thing that everybody can do, and that is very important nowadays, is to share information,” she says. “Everybody has social networks; it is important that people hear our voices.”
Olha sums up her sentiments in her plea to the Bruin community, “Right now, I feel, more than ever so proud of Ukraine and its people. Ukraine is an incredible and very strong country, but we need your help; we need the help of the world to fight this.”
Resources to Help
Razom for Ukraine means “together” in Ukrainian. They are currently focused on purchasing medical supplies for critical situations like blood loss and other tactical medicine items. They have a large procurement team of volunteers that tracks down and purchases supplies and a logistics team that then gets them to Ukraine.
https://razomforukraine.org/donate/
United Help Ukraine helps provide medical supplies, personal protective equipment, humanitarian aid to refugees, and fundraises for the Ukrainian wounded and their families.
https://unitedhelpukraine.org/about-us
