Over the weekend, my friend Sergei reached out for help. The situation is very tough where he is. The weather is cold, the enemy is equipped way better than they are. They lack equipment, and their two cars broke down. I hope we can help! 🙏
PayPal: doc.sergeiandreevich@gmail.com

Sergei is a medic from Mariupol. When the Russians started the siege of the city, he stayed there for almost a month, trying to save as many people as he could. You can see the scenes with him in the “20 days in Mariupol” film. Read the article about him: apnews.com/article/russia…

A follower of mine read an article about Ukrainian POWs who were castrated by Russians. She works in reproductive health in the U.S., and she shared that there is a testosterone treatment available that Ukrainian doctors seem not to be aware of. How can we spread this info? Depending on the severity of the injury, this treatment can give hope to many affected people. Unfortunately, the psychologists and doctors who work with these patients seem not to know about this possibility. I know that many Ukrainians read me, could you please spread the word?

I spent a week in Boston and surroundings. We used to live there and my husband and I were happy to see the places we love. We saw lots of 🇺🇦 flags, and it made us very happy. At the same time we noticed so much Russian presence in cultural places that it made us very sad. 1/9 The more I learn about Russian colonialism, the more I’m working on personal decolonization - the more I see how much space Russia has taken everywhere. We went to one mansion that used to be a summer house for a wealthy American family. It’s a beautiful museum now.

Love this video by @MariiaLoniuk! One day I’m going to try this Ukrainian technique and make my own pysanky (🇺🇦 Easter eggs). I’ve just read about one Ukrainian tradition on Easter. Continued below ↓ On Easter girls in Ukraine would wash their faces in a bowl of water with pysanky that were consecrated in the church prior to that. It was believed that by doing so they stay beautiful and healthy. In many households the whole family washed their faces in this water as well.

I want to share one story that was written and recorded by Julia Kochetova - Ukrainian photographer who tells the stories from war on her Instagram page (handle: seameer). Her bio says: “War is personal. Based on a true story” and she tells it as no one else. Keep reading ↓ 1/10 «Tamara says she's glad for every prisoner exchange. So far, 1993 people were returned from captivity, among them - only 171 soldiers of the "Azov" battalion. “Many well-known Azov captives were released, but the majority is some abstract 700 people. They are not visible.”»

Last year when the news about russian violence against Ukrainian women and little girls became known, I thought that prominent feminists around the world would be outraged and would shout about it from the rooftops. It didn’t happen. 1/6 What happened is they either remained silent and completely ignored it or said things like: “Ukraine should negotiate with russia to end this violence!” Shifting the blame to Ukrainians for russian atrocities, like people shift blame to the victim instead of her abuser.

Story from Denis Minin whose team evacuates people from besieged Mariupol: “Our driver Ivanka saved hundreds of people and animals. During the last trip russians kicked everyone from her van (women and kids), took the van and said to her: “Go back to Mariupol and rebuild it.” 1/6 Ivanka made dozens of trips to occupied Mariupol and back. russians at the checkpoints started to recognize her. She experienced lots of sexual advances from them, including numerous proposals of matching her with their Chechen commander. She endured it in order to rescue people.

Many of you remember my friend Sergei who is a medic on the frontlines. He saves the lives in the hottest spots, like Bakhmut. He lived in Mariupol and lost everything that he had there. Today he shared that his cousin’s family lost their apartment in russian attack in Dnipro 1/4 It was right in the middle where the missile hit. They were extremely lucky and weren’t at home at that time, because right now there is a giant hole instead of their apartment. They lost their home and all of their belongings and are currently staying with Sergei's parents.

Malanka (Ukrainian New Year’s Eve) is traditionally celebrated on January 13th. It is rich in ancient ritual, folklore and magic. Watch this video to see the celebration! 1/5

https://twitter.com/ukraine_ua/status/1613948958581166106

“The ancestors of 🇺🇦 believed that on New Year’s Eve, good and evil spirits descended on the earth. In order to ward off the evil forces and ensure a good new year, the night was spent in dancing, performing, fortune telling, and singing carols of well wishes called Shchedrivky.”

What is like to grow up in a heavily russified country and to be deprived of your culture and identity. A thread about personal experience and consequences of #russiancolonialism. 1/19

*Photo of my beautiful grandmother wearing a Belarusian embroidered shirt, year 1957. I saw a phrase by Citizenset, a Ukrainian poet who lives in San Francisco, and it resonated deeply with me: “I came to my identity as Ukrainian and I stopped waiting for someone to give me permission to be who I am.” I struggled with my Belarusian identity all my life.

Remember Anna, 🇺🇦 refugee woman from Germany, whose kids presents were stolen by disgusting neighbor, and you helped her, and she spread your kindness further and helped other 🇺🇦 kids? We stayed in touch and she recently shared that her brother Andriy is fighting in Bakhmut. 1/ Anna was raised together with her cousins whom she considers siblings. They lived in one house, went to the same school and spent every day together. They stayed very close even when they grew up. This is a photo of them before the invasion (Anna is on the right).

It all started with one of my followers sharing a story of injustice and harassment towards 🇺🇦 refugee family with me. I was so appalled that I decided to share it publicly. Then people started asking how to help this family, so I reached out to the mother of the family. 1/4 Then all of you sent so many kind and supportive messages and money to her. And she didn’t keep it to herself (even though she could), but decided to help others. What were the chances that she would be such a person?

Many of you asked how to help these little 🇺🇦 girls whose St. Nicholas' presents were stolen by an ugly neighbor in Germany. I reached out to their mom and she told me a little bit more about their story. 🧵 Her name is Anna and she fled Kyiv with her two little daughters just like millions of other Ukrainian moms and children who sought safety in Europe. They came to Cologne, Germany.

Sharing more 📷 of liberated villages in #Ukraine by Alina Tyulyu. This is Rosa. She said that #russians lived in almost every house in her village. One of 🇷🇺 soldiers told her "don't you understand that I came here to save you?” She yelled at him:“from who?!” 1/6 #UkraineWarNews Look how beautiful this old house looked, look at the window decorations, colors. #russians destroyed it and turned its yard into a dump. The entire village where Rosa lives is destroyed. The neighboring village too. #UkraineRussianWar

This video from my friend Sergei shows evacuation of wounded soldier. Imagine what this soldier must have felt: being injured, lying somewhere in the field, thinking that it’s probably his last day and then seeing Sergei’s team arrive to rescue. True angels #UkraineFrontLines 1/8 My friend Sergei and his team are paramedics in the #Hospitallers battalion. They are volunteers and it means that they are not getting paid for their work and 100% rely on donations.

Talked to my mom today. She lives in 🇵🇱 and she is friends with one elderly Polish lady. She told my mom that she was 5y.o. when #russians came to her city on their way to Germany during WW2. She remembers vividly how people were shouting:“russians are coming, hide the girls!”1/3 Her grandma hid her in a closet, then covered her young aunt with mattresses and blankets. When #russians came to their house and demanded to show them daughters, grandma laid on the pile of blankets with her daughter underneath, lifted her skirt and said: “Take me instead.”

I want to share with you a wonderful 🇺🇦 volunteer group “Stanislavsky borsch” that makes borscht and other dehydrated soups and sends it to #UkrainianArmy. They are a 100% volunteer led initiative and fully rely on donations to buy ingredients. PayPal: vashpartner2010@gmail.com🧵 They provide warm food for #UkrainianArmy which is especially important now as the weather is getting colder. They make about 10 different kinds of soup, both with meat and without it. There are many vegetarian and vegan soldiers in the 🇺🇦 army and they make soups for everyone.