Volume 2 - March 9, 2022
Things to Do
1) Regarding donations, I continue to recommend the Ukrainian army. New options I recommend go to Ukrainian government's recently-opened humanitarian fund, independent Ukrainian media, protective gear for journalists covering the invasion, and the excellent Visual Culture Research Center in Kyiv, which is disbursing funds to artists and museum workers in Kyiv and Eastern Ukraine (for the latter, DM VCRC on IG or email serhiyklymko@gmail.com and ask for their USD IBAN.)
2) Rent an AirBnB in a Ukrainian city under siege (Mariopol, Kharkhiv, Mykolaiv, Kyiv) to provide direct support to Ukrainians, but read this before you book.
3) Text random Russian phone numbers with the truth about the Russian invasion.
4) Do you or someone you know have experience setting up a GoFundMe and navigating the tax implications, especially if you personally become the beneficiary so you can transfer it to a country GoFundMe does not support? Please be in touch with me!
Recommended Things to Read/Watch/Follow Etc.
1) Download the Telegram app and sign up for Zelensky's group -- you will get a text when Zelensky makes a speech (usually an English translation follows soon after the original Ukrainian).
2) The war diary of Yevgenia Belorusets, a Ukrainian writer and photographer in Kyiv. A new entry goes live at 4 pm EST every day. Highly recommended.
3) The political scientist Volodymyr Ishchenko gives a good overview of recent Ukrainian history and identity on the Intercept's weekly podcast.
4) An interview with Russian sociologist Grigoriy Yudin: "This is an unprecedented situation in world history — there has never been anything like it before. Right now, the whole world stands on the brink of a monstrous catastrophe, because there is no logical knowledge on which we can rely."
5) The BBC's Francis Scarr is tracking and translating Russian propaganda on Twitter.
6) A good historical fact check of how Putin has distorted and instrumentalized the history of Ukrainian nationalism and Nazi collaboration.
7) A Twitter thread about why to take the maps showing the progress of the invasion with a grain of salt.
8) The political scientist Ivan Gozma wrote a powerful account of his experience evacuating Kyiv and becoming an IDP in Lviv.
9) The WNYC radio show New Sounds devoted its show last week to new Ukrainian music-- a great listen. For those in NYC, New Sounds is collaborating on a benefit concert for Ukraine this Friday, March 11.
10) Ukrainian photographers to follow on Instagram - @seameer, @oksana_par, @donbas.frontliner
11) I am posting photos and stories on Facebook and Instagram if you don't already follow me on those platforms.
Stirring Quote of the Moment
Zelensky in an interview with western press over the weekend: "Life is what it is. My life today is wonderful. I believe that I am needed. That seems to me the most important sense of life, that you are needed, that you are not just an emptiness that breathes and walks and eats something."
Fierce Babushka of the Moment
You may have heard about the Ukrainian lady who was smoking a cigarette on her balcony in Kyiv, saw a Russian drone in the air hovering nearby, and knocked it out with the closest thing she had on hand--a jar of pickled tomatoes (not cucumbers, as has been widely reported). You can put this interview with the woman through Google Translate if you want to know more. (Image below reads “Good evening, we are from Ukraine.")
A Note About this Letter
You are welcome to share this letter with your contacts. The image at the top is St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine.