“People of the Donbas, hear your own!”

The first video can already be viewed on our website. Valeria, 26, lives in Kyiv, works as a photographer, loves to travel, and resolved recently to speak Ukrainian, even though her native language is Russian. Valeria was born in Luhansk oblast, in one of those cities that have now turned into hot spots. She grew up and attended school where gunmen are walking today and bullets kill locals as well as Ukrainian soldiers. Actually, it is the former category who she addresses – the residents of her city, her friends, classmates, teachers, and neighbors, calling on them to avoid supporting the militants, acting as a human shield for them, or harming the Ukrainian military. After all, dissatisfaction with the authorities is no reason to break up the country or to start a war and kill people. Valeria also addresses with words of support and gratitude the Ukrainian army and hopes that soon all residents of the eastern regions will realize that the Ukrainian soldiers came there to protect people and the integrity of the country and to stop the terrorists.

“Our only hope for a peaceful future is the Ukrainian army, which has risen from the ashes in recent months. Our soldiers are people of the same kind as your colleagues, husbands, and brothers. Just a month ago, they did not know how to shoot. Now, however, the enemy’s brutality is forcing them to kill in defense of our Fatherland. Please, do not think ill of them, as they are our first and last hope for the peace even if you do not understand this yet for some reason,” she says to the residents of the eastern regions.

The news programs are now often showing people who urge us to hear the Donbas’s voice. However, can the Donbas hear itself? Is it listening, first of all, to the desires, requests, and demands of its own people? The Day will regularly update its website with new video messages by celebrities as well as regular concerned Ukrainians from the Donbas. They address their own and hope to be heard and understood.

If you have come from the eastern regions and want to address your compatriots or to express support for the Ukrainian army, please, contact the editorial office of The Day.