Bay Area Ukrainians reacted to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plea to U.S. Congress Wednesday as they continue to send humanitarian aid to their native country.
Zelenskyy’s pleaded with the U.S. to implement a no-fly zone over his country to stem Russian attacks.
“I think he made it clear what is happening in Ukraine now and he drew an analogy to Pearl Harbor and I think that’s accurate except in Ukraine. It’s happening every day,” Igor Markov with the non-profit Nova Ukraine.
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Nova Ukraine has raised more than $8 million to provide critical supplies to the embattled country.
Earlier this week, the group coordinated a team of volunteer Stanford students who flew to the Seattle area to help pack up medical supplies bound for the warzone. Markov said that the medical aid is desperately needed right now.
“Lots of missiles hitting apartment buildings, people killed including children. it’s as gory as it gets,” he said.
At IDL Packaging in San Jose, they were also collecting medical supplies along with baby formula and some canned food items.
“We started two weeks ago and in three days we had 5 full trucks,” said Igor Yuzvinskiy with IDL Packaging.
Yuzvinskiy added that his parents and brother are still in Ukraine and he’s worried about their safety but committed to doing what he can to help from the Bay Area.
On Monday, all of the supplies at IDL Packaging will be sent to Ukraine. But it’s an expensive endeavor costing about $50,000.
