THE HURON EMERY | ISSUE 5: MAY 4 | NEWS
My
experience
as
MELANIIA CHEREPANYNA GUEST WRITER
the news, texting my family and friends to check on their safety, and crying nonstop. I don’t know when I will be able to go home again, I am a proud or if I’ll even have home by Ukrainian. I was born, that time, and I don’t know raised and I lived my entire when I will be able to see my life in Ukraine. Currently, dad, my little brother, my I am witnessing a horrific grandparents, my aunt and genocide of my people and my uncle again. my country being bombed My friend from Kyiv and destroyed by the Russian is hiding with her family in forces. the bathroom I from the think that bombs. Her by now little brother everyone is waking up is pretty every morning much and asking aware of “are we being what is bombed again?” happening He is nine in Ukraine, years old. My but I would grandparents like to are texting me educate from the bomb MELANIIA you more shelters. My CHEREPANYNA, 10 and give other friend my own who is also perspective. from Kyiv On shared her February experience with me at the 24, 2022, around five in the first day of the invasion: “We morning, Putin fully invaded all woke up at five in the and declared a full-scale war morning from the sound of on Ukraine, sending Russian sirens and later bombs. This troops to Ukrainian cities. At is the scariest sound I’ve ever that time, it was evening here heard in my life. I will never in Michigan, and my friend forget it. My parents told me who is currently in Kyiv to wake up and pack my bags texted me: “Melania, I hear because the war has started bombs, I think the war has and we need to leave our started.” And it has. It was home.” the beginning of all of the Imagine this horror that Ukrainians are happening to your family currently living through. and your friends. Imagine Later on, I started this happening to your hearing from my loved ones country. Imagine Michigan and seeing all of the horrible being bombed right now. I news. At first, it was hard don’t wish anyone to ever to believe that this was experience this. really happening. That my Recently, the small hometown Kyiv, where I was town Bucha in the suburbs born and where I have the of Kyiv was liberated most memories, is now being from Russians after being bombed and destroyed. It occupied for more than a was absolutely impossible month. It is tough to see, but to focus on my school work I implore you to research or anything at all because what happened there. When all I was doing was watching I hear the word “Bucha,” I
I don’t know when I will be able to go home again, or if I’ll even have a home by that time.
a
Ukrainian
can only feel horror and pain. I don’t have enough words to describe what I feel. The only question I have is why the world is just watching? Why isn’t anyone doing anything with this? Where is justice for my people? When will those Russian soldiers be held accountable? Pain is pulling me apart. This is 21st century. Why is this happening? Call it what it is: a genocide of Ukrainian people. A crime against humanity. I have felt the hate of Russians on myself, but thankfully they had no power over me at that moment. Like most Ukrainians, I have two native languages: Ukrainian and Russian. Ukrainian was the language I spoke at home and Russian was the language I was speaking with most of my friends and in all of the public places. Very often I had situations when I was treated differently for speaking Ukrainian. For example last summer, me and my family were on vacation in Turkey. The hotel we stayed in had a lot of Russian and Russian speaking tourists. A random Russian man heard me and my dad speaking Ukrainian so he came up to us speaking Russian, mocking Ukrainian, and said “Why are you speaking your language here?” He was drunk and threatened to fight. I wish it was the only situation like this, but I’ve had tons of them. The hate towards the Ukrainian language and Ukrainians as an independent nation is something that Russia has always had throughout history. In fact, there is not a single generation of Ukrainians that hasn’t suffered from Russian aggression. My parents and grandparents lived through the Soviet repressions, my
in
great-grandma survived Holodomor, and now my generation is living through this horrific war. I moved to America for the first time around two years ago, at the beginning of 2020. Every time when Americans asked me where I’m from because of my accent and I told them I’m from Ukraine, they usually responded with: “Oh, so you’re basically Russian, right?”, “Is that a country?”, “Where is it?”, “Is that a part of Russia?” Now, the whole world knows about my country. We see people in many countries with Ukrainian flags protesting against the war. Now, when I say I’m from Ukraine, people react differently. My American friends often ask me if I feel any better. My answer is no. I will not feel any better while my family is under bombs and my people are being killed. I will not feel better until this war is over. I will not feel better until there is some justice done. While Westerners sleep peacefully, Ukraine is fighting not only for itself, but also for democracy in the whole of Europe. Because if Ukraine falls, Russia will not stop there. It will go further. Something has changed inside of me forever. I’m not even sad anymore, I’m filled with anger. And this anger will never go away. It will stay with me forever. It will stay with every Ukrainian. We will never forget this horror. We will never forgive.
instagram: @__ainalem__
America 1991 UKRAINE BECOMES INDEPENDENT
2008 NATO DENIES UKRAINE
2014 RUSSIA SEIZES CRIMEA
2019 ZELENSKYY ELECTED IN UKRAINE the new president promises to end the war
Feb 21, 2022 RUSSIA RECOGNIZES TWO SOVEREIGN STATES Donetsk and Luhansk break away from Ukraine
Feb 24, 2022 RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE
In blue and gold: Junior Kirilo Pereklita recounts Ukrainian support rally JACKSON POLLARD STAFF WRITER You can see Kirilo Pereklita in the halls of Huron with his blue and gold marked Ukrainian scarf around his neck every day. He is a junior at Huron who very closely descends from Ukrainian roots and has a strong sense of pride in his family’s heritage. On March 14, 2022 there was a Ukrainian support rally held in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue in downtown Detroit. In an effort to do everything he can to show support for those in Ukraine right now, Pereklita attended
this rally. Along with heavy social media awareness, the support of the people was clear. “A lot of people made signs and brought flags, shirts and anything else blue and yellow,” Pereklita said. The attendance of the rally was massive, which could be seen even from social media posts if you weren’t able to attend. “It started out as a pretty small group and got bigger as time went on,” Pereklita said. “We also had a march up the block from where we were protesting.
There were so many people there and there was definitely a feeling of connection between us.” The energy that comes with being in the middle of a group of people coming together for such a serious and powerful reason has to be exhilarating. “A lot of people were chanting and screaming a national slogan, ‘слава україні’ which means ‘Glory to Ukraine’ and the response chant is ‘героям слава’ which means ‘Glory to the heroes.’” Pereklita said. Kirilo is just one example of Ukrainian-
Americans who are proud of their country through these troubling times and as a constant vocal advocate for how people here can aid, he’s a great person to set the example. “Being there made me feel so much pride towards my country and that so many people had shown up and come to support,” Pereklita said. Perekilta, who has strong pride in his Ukrainian roots, wears his blue and gold scarf to school everyday. GRAPHIC BY SANDRA FU