Kurds launch donation campaign for Ukrainians fleeing war
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish citizen launched a donation campaign to help the Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion as Moscow’s aggression continues to escalate.
Head of the Iraqi-Ukrainian Joint Chamber of Commerce in Erbil, Abdullah Balaki, and several of his friends opened a joint bank account to collect donations for the Ukrainians.
“We want to buy products, food, clothes, and medication to distribute them to the people that need it, as well as sending a batch [of the donations] to Kyiv because the situation there is really unstable,” Balaki told Rudaw’s Hadi Salimi on Wednesday.
Balaki, who is currently in Erbil, has been living in Ukraine for about 15 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a "special military operation" on Ukraine last week, with explosions being heard across the country, stoking fears of a major war. The invasion has caused human losses and material damage.
“My house was shaking because of the shelling, the windows were shaking … we understood that it was war,” Ukrainian citizen Yana Timoshik told Rudaw over a video call on Wednesday.
Recalling the first day of the invasion, Timoshik said that the explosions surrounded her house as she lives near a military airbase.
“We did not only hear explosions, we saw explosions.”
Putin says Moscow's advance is going "according to plan,” AFP reported on Friday, the same day Russian troops seized Ukraine’s nuclear plant.
Ukraine is a free country that doesn’t need “help” from Putin to be set free as he claims, another Ukrainian citizen said.
“I have been speaking Russian for my whole life. I have never felt that someone wants to kill me or forbid me from speaking the language in Ukraine,” Zhenia Saxarkuk said.
Saxarkuk has left Ukraine and is seeking shelter in an empty village on the Polish border.
The escalating conflict triggered immediate and severe sanctions by the United States and Western countries against Russia. It has also displaced over a million Ukrainians, according to the UN refugee agency.
Head of the Iraqi-Ukrainian Joint Chamber of Commerce in Erbil, Abdullah Balaki, and several of his friends opened a joint bank account to collect donations for the Ukrainians.
“We want to buy products, food, clothes, and medication to distribute them to the people that need it, as well as sending a batch [of the donations] to Kyiv because the situation there is really unstable,” Balaki told Rudaw’s Hadi Salimi on Wednesday.
Balaki, who is currently in Erbil, has been living in Ukraine for about 15 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a "special military operation" on Ukraine last week, with explosions being heard across the country, stoking fears of a major war. The invasion has caused human losses and material damage.
“My house was shaking because of the shelling, the windows were shaking … we understood that it was war,” Ukrainian citizen Yana Timoshik told Rudaw over a video call on Wednesday.
Recalling the first day of the invasion, Timoshik said that the explosions surrounded her house as she lives near a military airbase.
“We did not only hear explosions, we saw explosions.”
Putin says Moscow's advance is going "according to plan,” AFP reported on Friday, the same day Russian troops seized Ukraine’s nuclear plant.
Ukraine is a free country that doesn’t need “help” from Putin to be set free as he claims, another Ukrainian citizen said.
“I have been speaking Russian for my whole life. I have never felt that someone wants to kill me or forbid me from speaking the language in Ukraine,” Zhenia Saxarkuk said.
Saxarkuk has left Ukraine and is seeking shelter in an empty village on the Polish border.
The escalating conflict triggered immediate and severe sanctions by the United States and Western countries against Russia. It has also displaced over a million Ukrainians, according to the UN refugee agency.