As the Russian-Ukraine war continues, millions of the affected families have been facing many unprecedented challenges. Junior Dasha Krachun who has personally experienced the damage caused by war shared her opinion on the current conflict as a Ukrainian youth and what she is doing to voice her own struggles to the people of her community. 

What are some of the effects of the Ukraine conflict that you have experienced over these past days? What are your feelings and reactions? 

“I feel a strong connection to my homeland. Since the war started, me, my family, and most of the Ukrainians we met here in Texas feel the same – we are afraid but we won’t stop fighting for Ukraine. Personally, I have experienced anxiety and I started to get scared of common things such as airplanes or loud unexpected noises. Those things can immediately make me cry because they remind me of the horrible events that are happening more than 20 days now in Ukraine. I don’t feel safe even though I am thousands of kilometers away from the war, maybe because I am mentally there, hiding in shelters with my friends and families, or fighting back to back with our soldiers. I found it difficult to focus on school work for the first week, plus I had SAT on the 7th day of the war. Now I feel better, I got out of shock and I am ready to continue my life.”

How have your family or your community members been affected by this conflict? 

“My extended family is in Ukraine, moving to different places to get to a safer place to stay. My aunt and my grandmother succeeded to evacuate from the country through Poland either by luck or blessing. Now they are trying to find a house there or get to the US embassy to come to us. Thanks to the people in Poland, my aunt and grandma have everything they need to survive. Hoping for the best.”

What are some actions that you’ve taken as a high schooler to voice your opinion against the conflict? 

“I am actively posting proven facts about the war and educational information so people can see what’s really going on. With all of the propaganda, sometimes it’s easy to get stuck around fakes and lies, so we found it important to really understand the situation. I have attended 3 meetings to support Ukraine, one in Allen, one in Fort Worth and one here in Frisco. We also frequently donate money, clothes and medicine to people who evacuated from the hot spots. Recently 700 orphans from Odesa who evacuated to Poland got our boxes and we’re really glad for them.”

If you are able to stand face-to-face with the Russian leaders or in the United Nations right now, what do you want them to know or hear from you? 

“In my opinion, just an official conference with Russian leaders will not make any difference. They want complete russification of Ukraine, if they wanted peace – they would already found a way how to stop the terror. It seems like we have no choice – we need to close any connection with the aggressors in order to protect ourselves.”

“NATO seems to be really careful to not provoke putin. Ukraine needs their support, needs their army, their power, their courage. If we could unite all together in Europe – I am sure we would defeat the enemy. It’s not the Ukrainian war.”

What are your hopes for the future once the war is over? 

“I am really hoping to go back. I want to see all of my family and friends with their happy faces, crying because we are truly free now. I am hoping independent Ukraine will officially be a part of Europe and our eastern neighbors will never touch us again. I am hoping for a better future and for the fast growing of my country, being a modern, beautiful and safe place for all proud Ukrainians.”

What do you think the general public of America should do to support Ukraine and contribute to the situation, what about the US government? 

“For Americans – please don’t stay aside like the war doesn’t mean anything to you. We are really close to WW3 and we better be prepared then just completely ignoring the events in Ukraine. If you can donate – donate. If you can share – share.”

“For the government – Ukraine is facing a big and aggressive enemy, and even though our soldiers bravely defend our country, the price of people’s lives who have devoted themselves for freedom is already too much. More sanctions will help. More humanitarian aid will help. More weapons will help. Closing the sky over Ukraine will help.”