War From a Native's Perspective

This is a personal interview with a native Ukrainian who now lives in my home town.

Background Information

This will include excerpts and a link to the full interview from a native Ukrainian, Ms. Yuliya Boyun, and her personal perspective on the war with Ukraine and Russia

1

Yuliya's Home Town

Ms. Yuliya, lived in a small village in the northwestern part of Ukraine for the first 10 years of her life.

2

Yuliya Comes to America

Ms. Yuliya moved to America in following a "lottery" that enabled her family to move to America, where she first stayed in Milwaukie, Oregon, in 1995.

3

Move to Louisiana

Following her move to Washington, Ms. Yuliya moved to Louisiana in 2014.

4

Ukraine Gets Attacked

Years following the move of Ms. Yuliya to America, her home country, Ukraine gets attacked by Russia on February 24, 2022.

Click the button below to view the full interview with Ms. Yuliya Boyun.

After the video the story will tell excerpts from our interview and my personal interests with this war and trying to gain an understanding of the facts.

Lets begin with some history between Russia and Ukraine

War in Ukraine has been an ongoing conflict for 1 year, with its anniversary occurring on February 22, 2023. The war was a product of ongoing Russian aggression towards Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union until August 1991, meaning that it would no longer follow the rules of the USSR.

The reason for declaring war hasn't been definitively proved but many assume that it is due to Ukraine's attempts to join NATO or because Russia wants Ukraine to become part of it once again. However the reason that Russia has given involves De-Nazification and demilitarization.

This is a map of all the locations where Ukraine has been attacked by Russia and Crimea as of February 2022

Effects of War

The war in Ukraine has caused trouble for more than just Ukraine itself, although Ukraine has suffered the most. During the conflict Russia has constantly threatened the use of tactical nuclear weapons, which is something everyone wants to avoid.

This war has caused the deaths of 8,231, injuries of 13,734, and the displacement of 8.1 million people. Neighboring countries has provided aid for those who fled the battlefield although a good bit of people returned or stayed back to protect their country from destruction.

Ms. Yuliya's statement regarding the effects of the war on her wellbeing and emotions that are shared between most Ukrainians.

An excerpt from the full interview with Ms. Yuliya

Attempts to deter Russia

Before the war started the world expressed concern with the buildup of Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine in 2014. Nothing really happened besides basic "war games" and drills. On February 14th Russia invaded Ukraine, however the world didn't want the aggression to go unanswered.

To prevent a direct escalation of the war, the world instead chose to choke Russia out of Ukraine by putting sanctions on the Country of Russia. There were sanctions already placed but they became increasingly more crazy, such as removing Russia from the National exchange and such. The world also remove Russian sports teams from competing in the international stage, with the most relevant being the Russian team that was supposed to compete in the World Cup.

NATO support for Ukraine

While the world was afraid of Russia using weapons of mass destruction they still provided aid. The assistance given involved full military packages, medical tools, intelligence, training, and more sanctions. NATO and other countries provided Advanced weapons such as the American M1 Abrams, Javelin Anti-Air Launcher, German Leopard 2, British Challenger 2, and the M777 Howitzer.

The World has also supported Ukraine by visiting and bringing out the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr Zelenskyy).

"Ms. Yuliya's view on support for the fight against Russia."

Drama Involving the World and Russia

Ukraine has been attempting to join NATO for a few years now, however Russia has stated that if Ukraine joins NATO then that would mean WWIII. Russia has also threatened other countries close to its borders such as Sweden for attempting to also join NATO.

Russia has also been allegedly committing war crimes in the country of Ukraine, such as stealing from residence, Killing Children, and using banned weapons during the war. Despite all of this Ukraine has remained Strong and aggressive in its pursuit to drive out Russian troops.

"The reason why Putin and Russia calls us Nazis is because Ukraine wants to be independent from Russia and they got offended by that." - Ms. Yuliya

Unwavering Spirit

Ukraine has proved that they are a capable fighting force and capable of defending themselves. From the beginning Ukraine hasn't wavered in their quest of independence from Russia. Russia may have thought that it would be a quick battle, but they were faced with some of the bravest men and women on the planet. The fact that the war has been going on for a full year now proves that Ukraine is capable, and they have one of the greatest leaders of all time as well.

Their president isn't like most, who flee to safety when danger comes their way. Zelensky has been there for his country from the very beginning, he has been on the front lines fighting with his citizens protecting his country, Zelensky is the definition of a leader, a fighter, and a believer. He has been procuring weapons and medical for his people, fighting by their side.

"They didn't think that they would have to fight so much and for so long. They said three days, they were proven wrong." - Ms. Yuliya

What Next?

Despite the hardships that Ukraine has faced they remained vigilant and dominant throughout the year long battle. In fact Ukraine has been doing so well that retaliation on Russia soil has begun occurring. Ukraine has suffered so much and for so long that they want Russia to pay for their actions, however this has slowed to procurement of more powerful weapons. The world supports Ukraine, however they don't want Russia to view and attack with their weapons on Russian soil as a justifiable reason to use more extreme measures when battling Ukraine.

However the people of Ukraine feel different about matters involving these choices. An interview of a Ukrainian native, who lives in Louisiana has opinions which are shared by many of those in Ukraine. And her opinions are Universal with most other Ukrainian natives both physically there and those who are citizens of other countries. The Spirit of Ukraine has spread throughout the world and is inspiring others to stand up and fight for more support to Our Friends on the other side.

This is a map of all the locations where Ukraine has been attacked by Russia and Crimea as of February 2022