US international students Ukranian family in need

Vladyslav Bobuskyi is my Friend and classmate from Ukraine. He is currently attending Indiana University and is trying to help his family back home in Ukraine. Time is of great urgency; please read Vlad's message below and help if you can.

Greetings, I am Vlad - an architecture graduate student studying in the US.

A week ago, Russia invaded my home country, Ukraine. Russians send an enormous amount of men power through the border with the goal to capture or destroy the biggest cities and eliminate our government to set their own puppet-president in our capital Kyiv. They have used all kinds of weapons and war machines through the last eight days of the war. Russian offensive forces, including artillery, are heavily damaging civilian houses and, high-density residential blocks, infrastructural and cultural objects. Their military tried to blow up our biggest nuclear power plants several times.

My family and I live in Uzhhorod - a tiny city on the southwest side of Ukraine surrounded by a breathtaking mountain chain called the Carpathian Mountains. Right now, the city is actively preparing for any possible attack that it may have to encounter in the next few weeks. Russians have managed to capture some of our territories on the way to the capital, but the Ukrainian army right now is fighting like hell to defend our citizens and our freedom.

Currently, the main battles are going in the central, north, south, and east directions. Citizens all around Ukraine are terrified because of the huge threat of artillery bombings. Sad to say, but the situation is highly unstable, and people all around the country are petrified, listening to the news non-stop to be aware that the enemy is close…

My family consists of three members - my mom Natali, dad Viktor and my little sister Arina.

My mother works for the government (passport office), and currently, she’s volunteering and helping in Uzhhorod military enlistment office facility. My father is going through financial difficulties. He used to be an entrepreneur, but the conflicts with Russia and Covid have made him close his business. My sister is a high school freshman, but all the schools are currently closed for students. Because of the war, most of the institutional buildings in Uzhhorod are filled with refugees from the east of our country who just fled from the horrors of war that they sadly had to see and feel….

Unfortunately, my family does not have enough money to move out from this territory or even to hold on for long because of the security and economic situation in Ukraine. They would and are trying to help others, but there is a shortage of resources at hand at present.

The raised money will support and help my mother and sister to get to a safe place abroad and settle down there until the conflict in my country is resolved. She already got directions from our friends abroad as to where she can drive to, but the main concern is the financial support to establish herself somewhere for a while. Unfortunately, my father won't be able to leave the country with them because the borders were closed by martial law for men from 18 to 60 y.o.

Every donation can drastically help my family overcome these challenging times and find a safe way out of the country for a little while until the war with Russia ends.