About 200 Ukrainians and their country’s supporters gathered yesterday at Liberty Square in Taipei to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which entered its 11th day yesterday.
Ukrainian Daria from Vinnytsia in central Ukraine said the Russian military does not follow any rules of engagement, attacking schools, orphanages, kindergartens, hospitals and nuclear facilities.
Russian forces last week set ablaze the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine and have stirred up radioactive particles from the grounds of the defunct Chernobyl nuclear facility.
Photo: CNA
Julia, who is from Kyiv, has been living in Taiwan for seven years and considers Taiwan her second home.
She said she has been reading messages daily from residents on the outskirts of Kyiv about desperate mothers sitting in cold, dark basements with their children, with no access to water, sanitation or medical resources.
They fear that the food supply would soon run out, she said.
Photo: CNA
“Russian President Vladmir Putin’s army declared a war on women and children, shelling vehicles of volunteers who tried to bring humanitarian aid to women and children in shelters,” she said, adding that a family of three was shot when they tried to escape a Russian-occupied territory.
Although Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, does not have any strategic military target, Russian missiles hit civilian facilities, she said, adding that Putin targets civilians because he is unable to break Ukrainians’ resistance.
The family of Alexander Shin, a Ukrainian of Korean descent, lives in the southern city of Kherson, which was taken over by Russian troops following a difficult battle.
“What Russians did afterward was disgusting. They immediately occupied a television station and started broadcasting programs of Russian propaganda,” he said. “They brought in actors and camera crews from Crimea to stage another show at Kherson’s city square, in which humanitarian aid was distributed to people to show Russia’s good intentions and rally people’s support for the invasion. They thought this could incite separatist sentiment inside the population.”
The plan failed, as thousands of Ukrainians gathered undaunted in the city square the next day and chanted “Kherson is Ukraine’s,” with some people climbing onto the military vehicles and waving the Ukrainian national flag, he said.
“These are my people, and we will never accept life under Russia,” he said. “We know the precious feeling of being free in our own country.”
Ukrainian Anatolii, who is from Odessa and has been living in Taiwan for nine years, said that the Taiwanese government should carefully vet Russians coming to Taiwan before granting them visas, because many are Putin supporters and could threaten Ukrainians in Taiwan.
Taiwanese businesses should boycott trade with Russia, and Taiwanese should stop buying Russian products, he added.
Marcin Jerzewski, a Polish research fellow at the Taiwan NexGen Foundation, said his family in Poland is hosting a young Ukrainian mother with two children.
He said he is often asked what resources are most needed by Ukrainian refugees.
“I would say it is important to transfer funds, because supporting Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees amid this conflict would be a marathon, not a sprint. It is amazing to see a large number of material donations, but in order to sustainably support Ukraine, I would encourage everyone to donate to the official organization created for this purpose,” he said.
The government-affiliated Relief Disaster Foundation, which on Wednesday established a special account to accept donations for Ukraine, had received NT$211 million (US$7.5 million) as of Saturday, the foundation said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is accepting selected material donations starting today, with 20 types of items and 14 medications being accepted.
The 20 items are: thermal underwear, blankets, sleeping bags, mechanically powered flashlights, first-aid kits, wheelchairs, crutches, raingear, candles, cookies, milk powder, adult and baby diapers, sanitary pads, gauze, cotton swabs, syringes, medical cotton, vitamins, masks and infusion sets.
The required medicines include: Analgin, Dexalgin, Renalgan, Caver, Hemotran, Magnesia, Ellisin, Platyphylline, hydrocortisone, diphenhydramine, dexamethasone, adrenaline, noradrenaline and antibiotics prepared in sealed vials.
Donated medicines must be new with an expiry date no earlier than six months, the ministry said.
The drop-off area is at the intersection of Ketagalan Boulevard and Gongyuan Road, and will be open daily from 10am to 5pm from today to March 18. Those who need help to arrange vehicles for transportation can call (02) 2348-2863, (02) 2348-2864 or (02) 2348-2094, or send an e-mail to afri1@mofa.gov.tw.
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