Ukrainian man and his Russian wife plead with community for help

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — “For the last five days I have no peace in my heart because of what is going on in my mother country,” Ivan Bochkovskyi said.

Bochkovskyi is Ukrainian American, and his wife, Anastasyia, is Russian American. They say the last week has been painful.

“When it happened my husband and I, we didn’t sleep the whole night. in those five days it’s been like a nightmare,” Anastasyia said.

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They feel like many Ukrainians do right now. Natalia Solyeva worked at the Ukrainian embassy until just two weeks ago, and she said she wants people to understand how big this is.

“It’s not just complex. It’s not just crisis. This is the real war because what Russia did five days ago, Russia invaded a sovereign county. They started to shell every big city and Ukraine.”

Now, as they watch what’s happening, they just want to be able to do something.

“We are here doing our best to help as much as possible with diplomatic work and also with humanitarian help,” Solyeva explained.

Ivan said that not being able to help in person has been difficult.

“It is completely scary to see this and understand you can’t really help them. you can’t run to Ukraine and help them,” he said.

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Now, as social media posts from all over America focus on the war, Solyeva said there are ways for people to get involved.

“Everybody can help. A few ways: foreign citizens, they can join and help the Ukrainian army and Ukrainian people.”

People with military or police experience can volunteer to join a special international unit. If you don’t have military experience, you can donate directly to the army and refugees. The Ukrainian ministry of defense has set up an online page for people to donate to the Ukrainian national bank.

Many hope an end will come quickly to what they are feeling.

“It’s desperation, it’s sadness, and also confusion of the amount of lies,” Ivan said.

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