Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. January, 2024

January, 2024. 

The last post about my parents on this blog was at the end of November - that was the week when my parents arrived in the United States. Since then we all worked on getting used to their new life as refugees in California: they got medical insurance and found a little free library nearby, met some cats, dogs, and people. But Ukraine is always on their mind - especially this week when Kharkiv was bombed several times. One of the bombs hit one block away from their home and where other family members live now. My relatives wrote to me "Windows survived but it was very very loud, we are writing to you from the hallway where walls are protecting us in case the windows would not stand the next bomb".

When the first photo account of this shelling arrived I realized that the place that was destroyed was where I stood to paint the street across just a few years back. Below are photos of my sketching process and a photo from the night of the bombing. I was standing between the trees in the night photo - looking to the right. 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=842647937872588&set=a.411441454326574

It is hard to connect to the reality that is now on the streets where I grew up. But we must look - if this evil is not stopped it will spread further and more would be lost. 

These are the days when aid to Ukraine from the USA is needed more than ever. Yet it has been put on pause since November of 2023. If you live in the USA I urge you to contact your elected officials and support unblocking and increasing military aid to Ukraine. 

One of the things that I learned from this war is that small actions of everyday people add up. Every note counts.

Find your senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Find your representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives

Write to your president: https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/write-or-call/

Here are words from my letters: 

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I ask that you do everything in your power to unblock and increase military aid to Ukraine.

This is the only road consistent with maintaining a rule-based international order that our country's economy and well-being are critically dependent on.

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And here are my parents: the day after they saw the photo above.