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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.
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!
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
Abandoned Ukrainian Catholic Church in Saskatchewan
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My thoughts are with all Ukrainian people.
I especially share the personal concerns of my Ukrainian models.
I want to add some unpublished photos to my album
In 2013 I was in unique, atmospheric Odessa with my friends for the last time.
Rotterdam, 31 January 2025.
A fantastic visitor at Rotterdam-The Hague Airport. The An-26 flew from Ukraine to Rotterdam and stayed the night. This morning 01 Blue continued to Volkel. Probably something to do with F-16 spare parts.
Let’s pray for peace in Ukraine 🇺🇦 and the end of invasion.🇺🇦
Do not allow Russia and Putin to destroy the beauty of Ukraine.
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.
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.
Dear Ukrainians!
Today marks exactly four years since Putin started his three-day push to take Kyiv. And that, in fact, says a great deal about our resistance, about how Ukraine has fought all this time. Behind those words stand millions of our people. Behind those words stand immense courage, incredibly hard work, endurance, and the long path Ukraine has been pursuing since February 24.
This office – this small room in the bunker on Bankova Street – this is where I held my first conversations with world leaders at the start of the war. Here I spoke with President Biden, and it was right here that I heard: Volodymyr, there is a threat. You need to leave Ukraine urgently. We are ready to help with that. And here I replied that I need ammunition, not a ride.
And not because we are all fearless or made of steel – we are all human beings, and on that day, every one of us, all Ukrainians, felt fear and pain; many were in shock, and many did not know what to say. But on some invisible level, all of us knew that we have no other Ukraine, that this is our home, and all of us understood what had to be done.
Such was the choice. The choice that millions of Ukrainians made back then. Our people did not raise a white flag – they defended the blue and yellow one. And the occupiers, who thought they would be met here with crowds waving flowers, saw lines at the recruitment centers instead. Our people chose resistance. And our warriors stood firm, and civilians defended cities and villages, streets and yards. Ordinary people, absolutely, forming living walls, stopped columns of military vehicles, and all together showed lost Russia the only right road.
Everyone understood: every tomorrow had to be won. Ukraine had to stand – the state had to stand no matter what. And despite everything, our Ukraine had to keep functioning. Much was done here; we had never shown this facility before – it’s empty now, of course, but at the beginning of the war, there were hundreds of people here.
I worked here, then went upstairs to address you, the people. Here was our team, the government, daily coordination with the military, phone calls, the search for solutions – everything necessary for Ukraine to endure. Weapons had to be delivered. Medicine and food were delivered to cities blockaded by the enemy. To preserve the life Ukraine fights for so desperately.
And to be honest, things were different at times – here, both formal and blunt language was used, because every aid package, every sanction against Russia, every shipment of weapons – all of these had to be truly fought for. We had to fight tooth and nail for the faith in Ukraine. We had to make sure the world got involved.
And this was the key message of our appeals to European countries, to the U.S. Congress, to most parliaments around the world – and to the people, of course. To ordinary people – to millions across the globe – be with us, be with Ukraine, believe in us, stand with Ukraine, be brave like Ukraine!
These calls worked, because Ukrainians fought in a way that took your breath away, and this resistance was visible even from space, and that was absolutely inspiring, so very soon everyone saw it – this blue-and-yellow sea: thousands of people with our flags in squares across Europe and the world.
And so – gradually, with difficulty, step by step, brick by brick – Ukraine built the support that allowed us to hold out: when we made it through the first day of the war. The longest day of our lives. Then another. And another. Then a week. Two weeks. And then – a month. And we saw spring.
We won it back then – when it seemed that this February would never end, we gained our first spring amid a great war. It was a turning point, and for the first time, a thought flashed through everyone’s mind: we can do this. Ukraine can do this.
I really like the phrase that everyone was reposting at the time – a kind of summary of the first stage of the full-scale war, when Ukraine said: “You think I’ve fallen to my knees? I’ve just tied my tactical boots.”
And ahead of us was a road. And even in this long tunnel, you couldn’t fit a millionth of the pain Ukraine has endured during this time. The pain Russia brought to each of our families, to every Ukrainian heart.
Bucha. Irpin. Borodyanka. Mass graves. Hostomel. Mriya. Kharkiv. Mykolaiv. Regional state administration. Kakhovka Dam. Zaporizhzhia NPP. Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih. Ternopil and Lviv. Olenivka. Chasiv Yar. Kyiv. Okhmatdyt. Kramatorsk. Train station. A toy. Mariupol. Drama theater. The inscription: Children. Odesa. Apartment building. A little girl. Three months. Vilnyansk. Maternity ward. An infant. Two days…
Men do not fight like this. People do not act like this. Ukrainians will not forget it. Let this footage be seen by everyone who has no pangs of conscience, by all who still extend a hand to Russian evil and still buy Putin’s oil.
But all this time, we have not let our anger eat us from within. Ukrainians have turned their own rage into energy for the fight and have proven: we can be forced into shelters, but it is impossible to drive Ukraine underground forever. We inevitably rise, we return, we continue to fight – because we fight for life. For the right to stand on our land – and to breathe our own air. And Ukraine knows these feelings well – when, despite everything, after the all-clear, we come up from the bomb shelter, and with us, hope emerges, soaring into the sky; whenever the Ukrainian flag is raised – whenever it returned and returns to where it rightfully belongs.
And this was the next important stage of our struggle – when Ukraine not only endured, not only holds the defense, but strikes back. When entire cities made history. Hero Cities. Cities of Heroes. They moved forward. There were the first offensives, the first successes, and what can never be forgotten – the first eyes, the eyes of Ukrainians who had waited for their own. Balakliya, Izyum, Kupyansk, Kherson. Everyone saw how the occupiers were driven out of the Kyiv region, out of the Sumy region, the Chernihiv region. And everyone learned about the Ukrainian teleport to the other world for the enemy – Chornobaivka. Saw how Russian ultimatums turned into goodwill gestures. How Zmiinyi Island became ours again.
How the word “bavovna” gained a new meaning, and how we rejoiced when the first “bavovna” was heard in Russia. It is not malice – this is simply what justice sounds like in Ukrainian. It sounds like Stuhna, Vilkha, Neptune, and the roar with which the cruiser Moskva sank. Back then – it was a big moment. Later – it became a tradition.
And little else lifts Ukrainian spirits like the footage of the enemy’s military facilities and oil refineries burning. When it happened for the first time – it was major news. Now – it is almost daily.
And what once seemed unthinkable has now become the norm. Patriots, IRIS-Ts, NASAMS, F-16s – and something greater: our own weapons, our long-range capability.
Just realize this. Ukraine has come a long way – from the point when we were being given body armor to the point when we ourselves produce more than three million FPV drones a year. From the days when we admired Javelins and Bayraktars to the day when we have our own Sichen, Hor, Vampire, Palianytsia, Peklo, Ruta, Flamingo. From asking to close the sky to the ability to shoot down hundreds of “shaheds” in a single night. From hedgehogs and fortifications on the streets of Kyiv to the Kursk operation and the Spiderweb.
But that is still not enough – we will do more, because Russia does not stop, unfortunately, and wages war by every method – against peace, against us, against people.
Putin understands he is not capable of defeating Ukraine on the battlefield, and the “second army in the world” is fighting against apartment buildings and power plants. And now Ukrainians are enduring the hardest winter in history. And terror almost every night. I do not know who else could withstand this without collapsing or wavering. Ukrainians are doing it. And this is great exhaustion. For sure. What other people could do this? Despite the war, all these attacks, all these trials – to overcome evil – to overcome despair and hopelessness. And to hold on. And to hold on in unity.
And amid all this – to achieve results – everywhere. To recover after every attack. Each time, to replenish our air defense with missiles. To go to work every morning. To hold the line constantly. To speak with the world as equals. To gain EU candidate status, to bring thousands of our prisoners home. To make every international platform – from Davos to the UN – pro-Ukrainian. To make Ukraine’s voice in the world loud, to win Eurovision, to take the Oscar and the BAFTA, to be absolute world boxing champions, and to prove that Ukrainians have honor of the highest grade – far more valuable than any gold of this spineless IOC.
From each such act, from all such steps, achievements, and small victories, the great Ukraine is formed. Great – because it has you. People who inspire the planet.
And we remember how the first foreign leaders arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of this war. And the term “official visit” cannot in the slightest convey what these meetings were for us. We understood who was truly our brother and friend, who did not fear, did not hesitate, did not stain their name and did not worry about how not to anger Putin. I thank every leader who chose the side of light in history – chose Ukraine. In Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia. Everyone who stands with us.
And I really want to come here with the President of the United States one day. I know for certain: only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain – only then can one understand what this war is really about. And because of whom. Who the aggressor is here and who must be pressured. That Ukraine defends life, fights precisely for this, and that this is not a street fight – it is an attack by a sick state on a sovereign one, and that Putin is this war. He is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace.
They say time heals. I am not sure. At least I do not know how much time it will take to heal all our wounds – all these painful questions of “How many?” that burn inside. How many tears have been cried? How many attacks and vile strikes? How many scars in our hearts – how many flags in our cemeteries? How many names?
Da Vinci, Grenka, Juice. Zheka, Tykhyi, Nord. Petrychenko, Matsievskyi, sailor Vitalii Skakun, pilot Oleksandr Oksanchenko. Daria “Delta” Lopatina. Lana “Sati” Chornohorska. Yulia Bereziuk, Marharyta Polovinko. Thousands, thousands of heroes who gave their lives so that Ukraine may live. Our warrior-defenders. Our guardian angels.
I am certain they have told God the whole truth about this war. About how we defend ourselves. We defend our land, life, independence, our culture, history, our St. Sophia, our people. 1,462 days of the full-scale war. 12 years since the beginning of Russia’s aggression. For some – an entire lifetime. Of course, we all want the war to end. But no one will allow Ukraine to end. We want peace. Strong, dignified, lasting. And before each round of negotiations, I give our team very clear directives. They always come in classified decrees, but I will certainly not reveal a state secret if I share my main message: not to nullify all these years, not to devalue – the entire struggle, the courage, the dignity, everything Ukraine has gone through. This cannot be surrendered, forgotten, betrayed. That is why there are so many rounds of negotiations, and a battle for every word, for every point, for real security guarantees, so that the agreement is strong. History is watching us closely. The agreement must not simply be signed – it must be accepted, accepted by Ukrainians.
Dear people,
The strength that has sustained us all these years is you. Our people. Our resistance is you. Ukrainian men. Ukrainian women. Everyone who does not give up. Our eyes may be tired, but our backs are unbroken. And I want to thank each and every one who carries independence on their shoulders. Every warrior – for your strength. Your parents, your children, your wives and husbands – for their endurance. I thank all those whose work makes Ukraine stronger. Those who bring light and warmth back to our homes. Those who heal. Those who volunteer. Those who teach. Those who study – in universities or in schools – and who learn the most important thing: to be human, to be Ukrainian. I am proud of you. I believe in each and every one of you. In all of you to whom, without any exaggeration, I have the honor to say: Great people of a great Ukraine.
Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: we have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood. Ukraine exists not just on the map. Ukraine is an actor in international relations. Our capital stands, and so do Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, Odesa, Lviv. Other cities. Putin has not achieved his goals. He has not broken Ukrainians. He has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to secure peace and justice.
Less than a week until spring. We are getting through the hardest winter in history. This is a fact. And it is very difficult. Difficult for all of us. But just as on the first day of the war – we continue to build our tomorrow – step by step, task by task, achievement by achievement, and every result, every success, every one of our “Ukraine did it” is the merit of all of you. The Ukrainian people.
Glory to Ukraine!
FILE PHOTO: An ambulance is seen through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 28, 2022. Jedrzej Nowicki/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo
SPREAD SUCH FOTOS! HELP RUSSIANS TO GET INFORMATION INSTEAD OF PROPAGANDA!