Copyright Salt Lake City Deseret News
Although I have never been to Utah, and I have never had the chance to visit the United States, I feel that I know your country and your people well. Fate has given me the opportunity to work and interact with many Americans, including those from Utah. I represent the Ukrainian people, to whom you Americans have been so kind and supportive during these difficult times. This is why I want to share with you what matters most to us — our families, our values and what we fight for every day. In Utah, you understand the value of family. You build your lives around it, invest in your children and support your parents. Now imagine for a moment that your most precious value — your family — is under threat. Not from words, but from missiles. Imagine that your family celebration is interrupted by a siren, and dinner is prepared not in an oven but in a basement during an air raid. This is our daily reality in Ukraine. And it is for the sake of our families that we fight. Parenting under fire How do you explain to a young child that a bomb shelter has become their playground? How do you teach them to read and count when air raid sirens are constantly wailing overhead? On Oct. 22, 2025, a Russian drone struck a private kindergarten in Kharkiv. A five-year-old girl was killed, and six other children and three adults were injured. This tragedy is a stark reminder that protecting our families is not an abstract concept — it is a daily fight for the life of every child. Our parents teach their children not only math and literacy but also attentiveness and caution. We fight for our children’s right to a peaceful, ordinary childhood — the same one you wish for your grandchildren in Salt Lake City. Family traditions in times of war You gather around a big table for Thanksgiving. We had our own family celebrations too. Now, that table is often separated by war. The father is fighting at the front. The children are in a safe place. The mother volunteers at home. Yet we find ways to stay connected. A short call over Starlink to say “I’m alive” has become our new family celebration. It is a celebration of life. We are defending not just territory; we are defending the very right to be a family. Faith and community In Utah, faith is the foundation of community. It is the same for us. In basements serving as shelters, people pray together. Our churches, like yours, have become centers of assistance: coordinating the delivery of food and medicine, finding shelter for displaced people. This is faith in action. It is the same solidarity that brings people together in a difficult moment, regardless of denomination or country. Why this matters to you in safe Utah The war in Ukraine matters to Utah because the fight for family values is a universal language. When you see a Ukrainian mother digging through rubble with her own hands to rescue her child, you do not see a distant stranger. You see the universal image of a mother’s love. When you see our soldier fathers reading bedtime stories to their children over video calls, you see the universal image of parenthood. We are not asking you to fight for us. We ask you to see us. To see not an abstract country at war, but people who every day make the moral choice to protect their family, their community, their right to live. Your support is not just politics. It is a deeply human gesture of solidarity from those who understand the sacredness of family to those who are defending it at the cost of their own lives. Our resilience is not only about military strength. It is about the power of love for those dear to you. And this language you understand without translation.
