🚞

16-year-old Roman Biletsky died as a result of russian shelling of the Pozhnia village in Sumy Oblast on October 26.

The grandfather said that when the shots started, the boy ran to save his goats, which were grazing in the garden.

"He loved animals very much, raised ducks and goats. He kept two goats, given to him by local residents.

When the shelling began, he remembered that his goats were tied to the cuttings in the garden. He ran to save them, managed to put them in the stall, remove the chains. Then he tried to enter the house because there were loud shots.

At the moment when he climbed onto the wing, already opened the door to the corridor, a shell flew by. The projectile landed on our haystack in the garden. The explosion did not take place on the ground, but on top of the roof, on the slate. He was struck in the lungs, vomited everything. And in the leg," recalls the grandfather.

Roman's grandfather has 1 group of disabilities, his grandson came to take care of him, helped with the household.

"It was my only hope and support. I hoped very much for Romochka, for my grandson. And my last hope was taken away," he says.

🖋️📸: Suspil'ne Sumy

Babyn Yar, 82 years past.

Last year, I walked there a lot - and couldn't help but cry, every time. You always knew the Holocaust happened, and what it happened to Ukraine as well, but there, in the memorial park, you see the photos, read the text describing it, you see these ravines, you walk along the graves/monuments of the Jewish cemetery, you listen to the prayers and memorial songs... Can you not cry?

And then there's the rocket attack on Babyn Yar last year. And there's the occupation, execution of civilians, mobile crematoriums. The theater, inscription "KIDS". "Filtration camps". Deportation of children. Blowing up the prisoners' barrack. The damn. The market. The train station... No, I couldn't.

82 years later, and the only thing that changed is the language of the invaders.

I will also join my fellow Ukrainians in sharing how 24th of February 2022 went for us.

I didn't go to sleep that night. The day before I had a check-in call regarding my uni project. All of my group mates did. I don't remember what I was doing so late at night but the fact is - I didn't sleep. My partner was already in bed but still scrolling her phone. Suddenly she sits up and says that russians on social media are saying that "we all will be fucked", and that Ukrainians are commenting on hearing loud bangs in their cities. We sit in silence shocked for a couple of minutes. Then we hear it as well. A loud bang. The kind that shakes the ground. We hear car sirens. A moment passes before we hear another one. I started packing my backpack with my documents and money. My dad says it won't be necessary, that they are just attacking the strategic military buildings. I don't remember how the rest of the night/early morning went. I don't remember if I've slept. In the morning the president had announced that the war has started.

Two weeks later I would leave for Belgium with my partner to not sit on my family's shoulders, to not be a burden. Everything is going relatively well for me: I found a job, I have a place to live, I am not struggling with food. Of course I had to sacrifice my degree for the lack of language and my hobbies for the lack of free time. That is why I don't draw much anymore. I just hope that in the future I will be able to do it again.

Two years passed and I feel like people abroad got used to the war. I am not fully aware of the whole situation but from my side it feels like people are forgetting about us. Like we are receiving less support. Like we are starting to loose. I just hope that it's not true and that it just feels that way.

Though Internet has been really hostile to Ukrainian voices lately. And there is so much misinformation. My partner met a woman near the station who pretended to be Ukrainian to beg for money. She didn't speak any Ukrainian or, for that matter, russian, just English. She didn't expect someone to talk back to her in Ukrainian.

I just hope that we will win the war and it will happen soon. My whole being hurts when I read the news about russian war crimes and the tragedies that just keep happening to my people.

If you have anything to spare, consider donating to the Ukrainian army. Reach out to your government, show up to protests. I'm tired of seeing only Ukrainians doing it. We can't do this alone, we will need everything that we can get.

https://u24.gov.ua/

Слава Україні! Героям слава!

І мирного неба!

Fight for them as they fought for you

Mykyta Tatyanko "Zhyvchyk", a soldier of the 501st separate marine battalion, is still in captivity. He hit the front pages of all the world's media because he was simply helping the wounded during the shelling of the Mariupol maternity hospital. Because he just wanted to save someone.

In Mariupol, Zhyvchyk provided moral support to the locals. Ksenia, a resident of the city, met the soldier when a residential area was shelled. That day, March 12, her family was injured and slaughtered - her 16-year-old son and her sister's husband were killed instantly. "I was in a state of shock: I wanted to commit suicide because half of my family was killed in front of me, and the other half was not sure if they would survive," Ksenia said. The young defender helped the woman to keep her morale up. Mykyta convinced her that she shouldn't do anything to herself because many people around her needed help. "You are needed here, let's go help," Ksenia recalls. Ksenia told Mykyta's mother, Larysa, everything in detail, and told her that she had become the heroine of a movie about Mariupol. She also talked a lot about Mykyta in the movie, but she didn't give them any details. They are still in touch. Once she said: "Maybe you will be offended by me, but now Mykyta will be my adopted son." And Larysa was very happy about that, because now they both pray for him sincerely. Larysa was also contacted by one of the guys who was in the TRO and headed the security of the hospital in the city center. In a conversation with the soldier's mother, the defender said that in Mariupol, her son shared his food and medicine with the residents. Mykyta gave away almost everything he had.

❗In these pictures, he is 19 years old. At the age of 18, he voluntarily chose the path of the military, which even before the full-scale war, he was in the east part of Ukraine. Mykyta has been in captivity for almost 2 years, so he is now 21.

Please, share stories of our defenders in captivity. Many of them, including Mykyta have been there more than 2 years. You can only imagine what Russians do and tell them. Russians entertain themselves by breaking people, especially Ukrainians. They fiercely hate people who protect and fight for freedom. I hope our people find even more power in themselves to live through the hell of russian captivity. And when defenders all come back to their homeland, they will be themselves, in a healthy state like body and mind. There so many people are waiting for them. They deserve only good things after all of that.

The gorgeous Frank with important message in Kyiv.

Ось що буває коли ввалюєшся в особисті до колежанки з питанням чи є якісь незавершені роботи та, чи можна з ними погратися :"D

I hate this world.

hate to live in the world where the fate of my country depends on the usa elections even though i live on the other side of the planet

!!! ПРОШУ ПРО ПОШИРЕННЯ !!! МОН хоче знищити мій навчальний заклад

В березні МОН планують приєднати Українську академію друкарства (заклад, в якому я навчаюся) до Львівської політехніки. Окрім того, що це рішення є абсолютно свавільним та недемократичним, воно може призвести до підвищень цін на навчання, звільнень, втрати бюджетних місць та місць у гуртожитку. Під загрозою зникнення специфічні спеціальності (як-от моя), на яких навчають унікальним технікам друку типу літографії (якій навчають тільки в УАД), ми ризикуємо втратити наші корпуси та майстерні. Фахівці, які отримали тут освіту, неймовірно важливі для книгодрукування в Україні, тому дії МОН наражають на небезпеку український книжковий ринок.

Прошу про максимальний розголос про ситуацію. Я розумію, що не маю великі шанси на те, що цей пост отримає його, але якщо ви його бачите, це вже щось означає. Українське студентство буде боротися.

Meet the artist! ✨️ ENG -> УКР

As it was the previous time, I wanted to finish this on my b-day (12.12), but I rarely have time these days, so here we are.

Despite everything, November and December were, fortunately, productive. I like it!😄

Як і минулого разу, хотілося закінчити це до свого дн (12.12), але останнім часом я маю багато справ, тож якось так.

Попри все, листопад і грудень були, на щастя, продуктивними. Класно!😄

I’d appreciate if you read and remember this:

Images source:

Russians: why don’t you like us so much?

Ukrainians: You nation is trying to destroy our country again. Actually, your policy towards us hasn't changed from 19th century. All of you need to go through the process of decolonization, review your history and culture. It is time to acknowledge Russian imperialism and colonial view on other nations which is still strong nowadays. You need to accept that our relations weren’t equal, it is a history of abuse. Then we can talk

Russians: it’s putin’s war. That’s all lie. We are brother nations

Ukrainians: ok, in the context of war and a time when our existence as nation and country is in danger, we define everything Russian to be an existential threat. Our priority is to survive, everything else can be reviewed later. We are protecting Ukrainian in Ukraine from Russian destruction

Russians: how dare you. We knew that you hate us for no reason. You are nazi