Chilling photos from the Black Sea when you think of approaching Russian warships t.me/ukrinform_news…
Zelensky speech last night with Eng subtitles full video here. t.me/V_Zelenskiy_of… off to write my morning Substack, link in my bio if you’d like to subscribe it’s free
‼️Urgent desperate plea from mayor of Mariupol on the Russian blockade of the city and humanitarian catastrophe. He calls it a genocide. Please RT this is via google translate; link to Ukrainian text & source here t.me/mariupolrada/8…
@ZelenskyyUa this morning: “They wanted to destroy us so many times. They couldn't. We've been through so much! And if someone thinks that, having overcome all this, Ukrainians will be frightened, broken or surrender - he knows nothing about Ukraine.”t.me/V_Zelenskiy_of…
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Ukrainian moms are desperately asking me if Austria ever plans to move them from Grundversorgung to Mindestsicherung. I tell them honestly, I don’t think so. They tell me it is impossible to survive. With a small kid can’t work. I say I know and I am sorry. Another country?
I cannot lie and tell them I expect any changes on the political level because I don’t. Federal and 9 states are already doing only the absolute bare minimum. I hear no discussions in media about improving Grundversorgung conditions or moving them out of it.
If any journalists would like to do a deep dive on the payments and handcuffs I know volunteers who know the numbers inside and out. It is complicated and very opaque, and differs by Bundesland. I tell the Ukrainians the following.
Just realized the last time I took a long distance bus I was a teenager. I feel wholly unprepared. I do not see the promised WC nor free wifi (eeek). Everyone seems to have done this before. The bus is completely full: women, kids, pensioners. Two drivers. €190 round trip 🧵
I found the toilet AND actually more importantly, the plug for the charger. Hallelujah! Did you all know Hofer is Aldi in Hungary? We just passed a huge distribution center. I am amazed by how quiet and considerate ALL the passengers are. Even the kids. It’s unbelievable.
I naively didn’t quite understand the bus actually makes all the stops. Budapest.
The infamous dorm in Vienna’s 11th district is closing for good. All residents must move out by this Friday night. A team of volunteers is organizing cars & people to help with the move: many residents are elderly and/or handicapped. They need volunteers & wheels. Pls DM.
I am so dumb. I naively assumed when @Stadt_Wien said all dorm residents would be assigned new housing in Wien by April 15, that would happen. Now I am hearing some residents will be sent TO THE ARRIVAL CENTER. Nightmare. Some may refuse to leave…could potentially get ugly.
This is an absolute shitshow. I should have known. It did not have to be like this if anyone cared. These are vulnerable Ukrainians who have been under extreme stress for months.
I asked the Ukrainians in my group about their success or lack thereof in finding legal paid work, and this was one of the replies. These energy bills are insane. They need guidance as renters…ugh.
A poll so far shows a mixed bag: some cannot work (caring for kids or handicapped relatives), some don’t look as working would render them homeless (social housing) and they cannot afford a deposit/rent, others no luck so far, still looking. Some want to finish A2 German first.
Some are working and no longer receiving benefits. One man in his 60s texts from the arrival center — he already has a job offer but no blue card bc no address bc no housing assignment yet. The labor market is not making the most of this opportunity. Bureaucracy is once again… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
This young woman has been living in the “arrival center” for TWO MONTHS.
Delivered my last three cards to the arrival center. No movement on housing. They have been told the whole place is shutting down by June 1. If Austria is closed, it should at least announce that so more Ukrainians do not come in false hope. Mood = very depressed.