{"id":41997,"date":"2022-02-24T20:56:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T03:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ukrainians-in-durango-organizing-charity-to-support-compatriots-after-russian-invasion\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:04:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:04:50","slug":"ukrainians-in-durango-organizing-charity-to-support-compatriots-after-russian-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ukrainians-in-durango-organizing-charity-to-support-compatriots-after-russian-invasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainians in Durango organizing charity to support compatriots after Russian invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"People
People including Ukrainians, take part in a demonstration in support of Ukraine, in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Thursday. Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. (Shakh Aivazov\/Associated Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

When Russians began bombing cities across Ukraine, the people of Ukraine were scared and shocked, said Vladimir Koshevoy, who works in the information technology department at Fort Lewis College.<\/p>\n

Koshevoy has family in Kharkiv, just 30 miles from the Ukrainian-Russian border, and his wife, Alena Yaremchuk<\/a>, has friends and family living in the Ukraine capital Kyiv. People in Ukraine are in a panic, Yaremchuk told The Durango Herald<\/em> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Koshevoy said he and his wife are working on putting together a charity to support Ukrainians with food, medicine and supplies, although it might take two to three days to get the charity organized.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is worried sick,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of explosions that are not even on the border with Russia. The airports are being destroyed so people can\u2019t leave the country via airways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gas stations across Ukraine are closed and some people can\u2019t get gas, he said. Some Ukrainians are trying to drive into Europe because it isn\u2019t too long of a drive and Ukraine is more or less a European country, Koshevoy said.<\/p>\n

Yaremchuk said she was scared when she heard bombings had begun because her family is in Kyiv. She is working with her friend in Ukraine, who was an Olympic champion figure skater, on opening phone banks to help Ukrainians obtain food and medicine.<\/p>\n

Koshevoy said he and his wife don\u2019t know what information to believe because disinformation and misinformation are rampant. Some news reports say Russian forces are close to Kyiv while others say differently.<\/p>\n

But Yaremchuk noted cities are being bombed all across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is really dangerous,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>

\u201cNobody knows what\u2019s going to happen next and where this whole thing is going to go,\u201d Koshevoy said.<\/p>\n

The couple learned from Ukrainian news reports that Ukrainian soldiers were able to push back against some Russian attacks, Yaremchuk said, but British intelligence explained in the same reports that soldiers don\u2019t have the capacity to stop bombings in Kyiv.<\/p>\n

Ukrainians are still trying to make sense of the attack that began in the dark of night: Are the attacks just a show of power by Russian President Vladimir Putin? Or will the conflict be another dividing force among Ukrainians for years to come?<\/p>\n

Koshevoy doesn\u2019t know what happens next. What he does know is that Ukrainians will need a lot of help, he said.<\/p>\n

What scares Koshevoy most is that world powers are not abiding by a 1991 agreement between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Ukraine, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine\u2019s territorial sovereignty will be supported and protected by the NATO,\u201d he said, summarizing the 1991 agreement. \u201cThat was the reason why Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal. That was the condition of the United States and the NATO. So far, they did not fulfill their commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yaremchuk said she plans an art exhibition in Durango to raise money for the Ukrainian people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all people in Durango who want (to) help, it\u2019s possible to help and buy some art with Ukraine and help Ukrainian children, Ukraine mothers, Ukrainian people for that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said Ukrainians need moral support. Protests, open dialogue and displays of friendship are needed in Ukraine, she said. She wants to hear Americans\u2019 perspectives on the conflict to let the people of Ukraine know they aren\u2019t alone during a dire situation.<\/p>\n

Koshevoy added that Yaremchuk is a former Ukrainian national president of Junior Chamber International, an international nonprofit that helps young people all over the world become active, contributing members of their communities.<\/p>\n

He said Yaremchuk has friends and followers all over the world, including in the United States, and she also can work with JCI to help the people of Ukraine. She has 9,480 followers on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some Colorado politicians put out public statements Thursday condemning the attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuthless dictator Vladimir Putin\u2019s Russian military aggression in Ukraine violates the freedoms we uphold in our nation and support around the globe,\u201d Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement released Thursday.<\/p>\n

He said Colorado stands on the side of freedom, and that war, violence and chaos threaten the foundations of the global economy and the United States\u2019 national security.<\/p>\n

Polis said he joins others urging Congress to \u201cimmediately suspend the federal gas tax and double down on a rapid clean energy transition\u201d to prevent geopolitical conflicts from interfering with the United States\u2019 energy future.<\/p>\n

Sen. Michael Bennet in a news release said Putin\u2019s \u201ccorrupt and self-serving distortion of history and disregard for international law has upended the post WWII order.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senator called Putin\u2019s attack on Ukraine a \u201cviolent path\u201d and said it will result in grave consequences for Ukrainians and Russians alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States, coordinating with our allies and partners, must punish Putin immediately for his unprovoked aggression,\u201d Bennet said. \u201cWe should impose the full weight of economic sanctions right now, explore options to bolster the Ukrainian resistance, and stand resolute in our support of democracy and the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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