By Anastasia Kaliabakos
On Thursday February 24, 2022, the world watched a largely anticipated Russian invasion of Ukraine take place—the largest military conflict to occur in Europe since the Second World War. In February of 2014, Russia annexed Crimea during the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity. Additionally, ever since 2021, the Russians have begun to build up military forces on their border with Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin has stunned the world by accusing Ukraine of being dominated by Neo Nazis who persecute the minority citizens who are Russian-speaking. Putin claims that in an effort to expand eastward NATO presents a threat to Russian security and, therefore, wants to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
The United States, along with other countries around the world, accused Russia of deliberately planning this invasion of Ukraine before it even happened; however, Russia denied these accusations up to the day before they invaded. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has remained in the country, taking a defensive stand for his nation and urging his countrymen to fight for their freedom. Ordinary citizens, both young and old, have made a conscious decision to take up arms to defend their homeland. At this point in time, it is estimated that approximately 3.5 million refugees have fled the country, precipitating a large refugee crisis felt by Ukraine’s border nations including Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. Those who remain behind in Ukraine are either engaged in the fight of their lives or are hunkered down in shelters. There have been tremendous power outages, resulting in lack of electricity and, subsequently, no refrigeration, running water, or sanitation. In other words, Ukrainians are living in desperate conditions.
Some Ukrainians who currently are living here in the U.S., specifically in New York City, have decided to do what they can to ameliorate the conditions back home. For example, Dr. Yelena Yeretsky, Founder and Medical Director of Clinique YFT (located in the West Village) is one example of the people trying to help the Ukrainians. Dr. Yeretsky is originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, and still has many connections there. A group of women she is in contact with have made her aware that while their husbands have joined the battle, their children have been forced to find safety in shelters along with the elderly. These places are in dire need of assistance, so they have decided to try and obtain and distribute medical supplies where they are needed. As a result, Dr. Yeretsky approached Village Apothecary, the neighborhood pharmacy of the West Village, to see if they would be interested in helping. Village Apothecary volunteered to donate all the medications and supplies which Dr. Yeretsky requested. The doctor has thus arranged shipment of the supplies overseas, where they will be received by the Ukranian women and distributed throughout shelters there.
Today, most people wrongly believe that a single person could not possibly make a difference in a huge crisis such as this war in Ukraine. Dr. Yeretsky and Village Apothecary are proof that regular, everyday people can join together and collaborate to do good for people thousands of miles away. As Archbishop Elpidophoros said at the Intercessory prayer service for Ukraine at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Volodymyr in Manhattan, “We exhort to the faithful to offer prayers but at the same time to offer tangible support for all the Ukrainian people.”
