-Madeline Matcheski
With the fast-moving media always trying to cover the next big story, the Russia vs. Ukraine War has been pushed out of the spotlight. We at The Hub are here to change that.
100 Ukrainian soldiers are dying and 500 more are injured every day in war efforts. Despite threats in every city, many Mayors, the President and the Prime Minister are loyal in staying and supporting their country. Ukraine continues to plead for more artillery, food, water and supplies for its soldiers and citizens.
"Our demands for artillery are not just some kind of whim... but an objective need when it comes to the situation on the battlefield," says Ukrainian politician Mykhaylo Podolyak. Ukraine needs many more rocket launch systems to match Russia- 150 to 300.
About 10,000 civilians are stuck in the city of Severodonetsk where Russian forces have concentrated their assault. Citizens are without electricity and water, and little food, and the fight only worsens. Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk announced that evacuation is impossible as the main bridge out of the city has been shelled and the framework destroyed.
The Russian military continues to push further East with their end goal being Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. People of Slovyansk remain solemn, cut off from their water and awaiting the inevitable strike from the Russians just around the corner. Citizens can be found playing instruments on street corners and selling vegetables they hand-picked from gardens in an attempt to make some money; appealing to passing soldiers on their way to the front lines.
"The Russian forces have thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front and that includes heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems and aviation," details Podolyak.
In a statement made by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Thursday, Ukraine had successfully reclaimed some of its territory in the South of Kherson. While they seem to be gaining territory that they lost, the Ukraine government refuses to continue peace talks with Russia unless they surrender the territory it had gained since it invaded on February 24th.
The European Union announced it would donate the equivalent of about $220 million US dollars in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. They called this relief in a statement Thursday, “in light of the soaring humanitarian needs in Ukraine.”
With graduation and prom being at the forefront of most teens’ minds, there’s the painful reminder of all the youth in Ukraine who lost that chance. The image above shows the haunting reality that every Ukrainian is experiencing: having all you own torn away and replaced with rubble.
“We are suffering here, living in a nightmare, waking up from convulsions,” said 66-year-old Nelya Puzina as walked through the remains of what was once a library in Bakhmut.
“Please give us a weapon,” she added, or Putin “will wipe us off the face of the Earth.”
Photo: 17-year-old Valerie standing in the ruins of her high school in Kharkiv, wearing the dress she picked out six months ago for her 2022 graduation prom. Russia now controls 20% of Ukraine. Photographer unknown.
Sources:
BBC
Washington Post
