Thread by @zoyashef

Spoke with Julia Hrytsku-Andriesh, who is organising resistance efforts in western Ukraine. She's 36 years old, has a PhD in economics, 2 kids. Before war, she worked for international development agency. In 2 weeks, her life has completely turned upside down. 1/15

"14 days ago my biggest problem in life was whether a Coach bag I bought was going to get shipped in time for me to get it by March 8," Julia says. "Now I am running a humanitarian aid hub ... War has clarified everything. We see what people are made of ..." 2/15

"We see who is ready to fight. 80% of the people of Ukraine are ready to defend their country to their last breath. Young and old ... Everyone is hosting refugees from Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv. Some have 10 people staying with them, some have 15." 3/15

"When it first happened, at first I was in shock," Julia says of Russia's invasion. "Then, I threw myself into activity, I needed to do something. That hasn’t turned off ... Now our group could outdo any logistics company in the world." 4/15

"If someone told me they needed 300 air mattresses in Kyiv, I could find them in 5 minutes," she tells me. Biggest shortages right now are in pharmaceuticals. "We desperately need things like bandages, gauze." Julia says her group bought containers of meds in Moldova ... 5/15

"But then Moldova brought in an export ban on medication, even if it's already been paid for. 5 times we tried to get boxes of supplies across the border, and we can't. So our neighbors let us down. But other countries like Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Baltics are amazing." 6/15

"Most difficult thing now is getting people out of the worst places," Julia says. "Mothers with children, the elderly. There are no humanitarian corridors. It's a lie. Russians said there would be one in Mariupol. People gathered to leave, and the Russians executed them." 7/15

Julia has Romanian nationality. "I have a house and a car in Romania, but the last thing I would think about is leaving Ukraine. It's not going to happen. I am helping here. I have a mission here. Before 2014 I was Romanian. But after 2014 I became a Romanian Bandera." 8/15

Julia is the organiser of the network I mentioned in my thread yesterday. (She works with J.) "I am organising to get tech from Romania and Poland into Ukraine. We really need iPhones, powerbanks, cables - as close as possible to the border," Julia says. 9/15

How is the mood in Ukraine and in their group? "There's such a strength of spirit right now. Everyone is working together," Julia tells me. "No one is even thinking about giving up. Either we win or we die." 10/15

What message does Julia have? "We need cover from above. On the ground we will be fine. The Russians have never seen such a resistance. You can't imagine it. I've seen grannies throwing pickle jars out their windows in Kyiv and taking out drones." 11/15

"People are stopping tanks with their bodies. But Russia is hammering us with rockets. We can't stop rockets with our hands. And every rocket is a life. The life of a child. The life of an elderly person." 12/15

"We need a no-fly zone. Everything else we can do ourselves. We can take care of everything else. Please. Help Ukraine. Close the skies." 13/15

I ask Julia whether I can use her first name. "Yes. Use my whole name," she tells me. "If you use my name, people will know I am a real person. I know some people don't want to use their names. But I’m not afraid of anything. Use my name and tell the world." 14/15

If you would like to help Julia's organisation, Help Ukraine Romania, you can see all the things they need and how to send them to them, on their Facebook: facebook.com/HELP-UKRAINE-R… 15/15