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The news is a constant stream of atrocities and war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. There is no other war in history where so many criminal, murderous, reckless and senseless acts have been so well documented and immediately shared with the world. I often feel like we all have a front-row seat to the most terrifying events in our lives and yet are powerless to do anything to help. This message is a further reminder that we are all not powerless.
We can all work together to help. We can create artwork, attend rallies, write to politicians, donate our time or money, and some truly heroic individuals head straight for the war to take up arms or deliver humanitarian aid while risking their own life. I am not that brave, but we are doing everything we can here to help.
This week we delivered four car-loads of groceries, supplies, toys, medicine, and general aid to the refugee effort here in Varna, Bulgaria. There are two centres open now, partly due to the main sports complex requiring a scaled back operation as they resume their normal activities. We’ll continue bringing supplies, and we are incredibly grateful to all those that have donated for this effort.
This image took a few missteps but finally was completed today. The concept was to get blue and yellow fluorescing ink in the center of a gerbera daisy, which has a very similar resemblance to a small sunflower (and we have some novelty sunflower seeds on order for more images). The first attempt was using highlighter ink, but the blue ink did not fluoresce. The second attempt was using fluorescent tempera paint, but still the blue did not fluoresce. Today we visited a specialty art store and they had what I needed, though it felt odd walking around shining a UV flashlight on their product offerings. The daisy is illuminated with a Convoy S2 UV flashlight after carefully painting the center of the flower with the two colours. Yellow fluorescence tends to be a bit yellow-green, so this needed to be adjusted in editing to properly emulate the Ukrainian colours.
“Peace” talks may continue, but Putin has showcased his complete disregard for any agreements, treaties, humanitarian corridors, international law, and more. The longer this war continues, the more I realize that there really is no negotiating with the devil. NATO and other allied nations need to find a way to remove Putin from power without creating an existential threat for Russia, and threading such a needle is damn near impossible. I’m certain that the most brilliant military minds in the world are working on this, but here we still sit, watching in horror of the daily crimes against humanity. I fear we will become numb to this in time, but should not simply be complacent regarding our own safety or the lives of other human beings just like us. Please, write to your politicians about your thoughts. Tell them to take action, whether it be increasingly harsh sanctions or military involvement. We all must do more to stop this brutal genocide.
This daisy was bedraggled and bruised, but shining brightly. Just like the heroes in Ukraine. Their hearts are filled with their freedom, and they will fight to their last breath. And like all images in this series, I deliberately enter it into the Public Domain so anyone can use it for any purpose without crediting me or any license required. Just another way to support the cause – and there is always more to do.
Ukrainian Pysanka Festival was just held in the town of Vegreville, Alberta - Canada. It's three days of Ukrainian music, dance, and culture.
5 doctors are killed. By a miracle my friend is alive, Her office was there and She was at her workplace at the time of the explosion. Original picture made by Vladimir Filin, friend’s husband, my edition
The upcoming Catholic and Orthodox religious Julian calendar following churches,
A Happy Ukrainian Easter ....
Le calendrier Julien suivi par les églises catholiques et orthodoxes religieux, une Bonne et Heureuse Pâques Ukrainien
My thoughts are with all Ukrainian people.
I especially share the personal concerns of my Ukrainian models.
In 2023 Ukraine passed legislation moving its official Christmas holiday to December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates the holiday on January 7.
I wish you a merry and joyous Christmas! Bazhayu vam veseloho ta radisnoho Rizdva!
The stainless steel statue stands 62 m tall upon the museum building with the overall structure measuring 102 m including its base and weighing 560 tons. The sword in the statue's right hand is 16 m long weighing 9 tons, with the left hand holding up a shield with the State Emblem of the Soviet Union.
The Khotyn Fortress's beginning goes back to the Khotyn Fort, which was built in the 10th century by Prince Vladimir Sviatoslavich as one of the border fortifications of southwestern Kievan Rus', after he added the land of present-day Bukovina into his control...
Construction on the current Khotyn fortress was started in 1325, while major improvements were made in the 1380s and in the 1460s...
The fortress is a large tourist attraction for the area and Ukraine. In 2007, the fortress was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khotyn_Fortress
I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!
Today’s events. The main thing: an exchange took place. And this is the first stage of the largest exchange agreed upon in Türkiye. In fact, it is the only significant outcome of the meeting in Türkiye – everything else is being blocked by the Russians. Blocked for now. But bringing our people back is exactly what we always work for. We will definitely bring everyone back. Every one of our citizens, every Ukrainian servicemember and civilian, all Ukrainian hostages held in Russia – we must free all of them. Today, almost four hundred, 390 people are back home – both military and civilians. Tomorrow and the day after, the next stages will follow. The formula is a thousand for a thousand. I am grateful to everyone and to our entire team involved in carrying out the exchange. And certainly, I thank all our warriors at the front who specifically ensure the replenishment of Ukraine’s exchange fund. And also, I want to thank our law enforcement officers for adding Russian saboteurs and collaborationists to the exchange fund. What matters most is that Ukraine is bringing its people home. I thank everyone around the world who is helping us.
And just as we succeed in this, we must succeed in everything else. A ceasefire is needed. Diplomatic steps toward real peace are needed. A new and effective security architecture is needed. We are bringing our partners together to make this happen. And it is clearly time to increase pressure on Russia to achieve not just one result, but everything that is necessary. And when Russia takes a whole week just to come up with a so-called “memorandum” as their response to calls for a ceasefire – this is nothing but a mockery of the entire world. So much time wasted! Every day of this war costs lives. Of course, in Russia, lives don’t count. But the world must count them. New sanctions against Russia are needed. I thank everyone who is advocating for and supporting this.