Standing with Ukraine

I hate war. There is nothing good about it. Unfortunately, there are those in the world who feel it necessary to use violence to satisfy their selfish needs. It makes me sick to hear about individuals and groups who promote the destruction of life and property to accomplish whatever agenda they may have. Yet here we are with another conflict resulting in death. And for what? There is no worthy cause to justify taking an innocent’s life.

As a descendent of Russian immigrants, I feel connected to this conflict on a familial level. I bring this up because I do not believe that this is Russia’s war– this is Putin’s war. That tyrant is destroying families and livelihoods. This is abhorrent and disgusting.

A striking foil to the Russian despot is President Zelensky, leader of Ukraine. Rather than ignore his people’s voices, he stands with them. That is a leader who deserves praise. Truly willing to sacrifice everything for the people of his country. The respect I have for this man is without bounds. I would be proud to have him as my leader. I hope that other world leaders will follow his example.

I stand with Ukraine. I stand with these good people who are being driven from their homes because of an aggressive neighboring government. I stand against pride and greed.

I may not physically be with the brave Ukrainians, but I feel for them. I feel a portion of the turmoil that they must be facing. I admire their dedication to each other. Let us take heed, follow their example, and fight back against injustice and evil.

There is much to do in the world to bring about peace to all. It will take the efforts of each of us to root out pride and greed in our own societies just as the Ukrainians are fighting off the pride and greed of Putin and the Kremlin. In honor of those who have given up so much, let us make our own sacrifices in these efforts.

Slava Ukrayini

Slava Heroyam