by Hayley Smith, LHI Founder and Director
Ukrainians stop for a hot meal on the border of Moldova and Ukraine. This tent is warmed by a generator, a resource desperately needed throughout Ukraine this winter.
“In my videos I try to explain and reveal to you the very essence of our culture, our language, traditions, rules, and even some interesting places in Ukraine which you won’t want to pass by on your next visit.”
I lifted the above quote from the YouTube profile of prolific Ukrainian vlogger Olga Reznikova. She’s made hundreds of fun and informative videos, all in English, about everything Ukraine. For example, some pre-war videos include tips for night club dress codes, the cost of living in Ukraine, and life hacks in the Kyiv airport.
Olga demonstrates how deep the snow can get in this screenshot I captured from YouTube.
But the video that caught my eye is, “Real winter in Ukraine,” published 5 years ago, long before talk of a humanitarian crisis. In the video, we see Olga walking down the stairs of her family’s apartment complex, bundled up in a thick winter coat and wool hat. “I just want to show you the real winter, because it’s -17C. It’s crazy cold, and even for Ukrainians it is crazy cold. In Odessa region, Mykolaiv region, Kherson region, the national roads are closed just because of so much snow.”
Check out the ice crystals forming on Olga’s eyelashes and eyebrows!
Olga opens the door. The camera takes a second to focus from a dark corridor to a pure white blanket of snow outside. The cold is palpable. The snow is deep. The town is quiet. People can’t really go anywhere, though she films some cars trying to navigate the snowy roads. Ice quickly forms on her eyebrows and eyelashes.
Despite the cold, Olga is adorable and bubbly, and the video is fun and light. Yet I watch in half-humor and half-horror. I smile and sorrow at the same time. This delightful video unintentionally confirms my deep-seated fear that this winter will be a humanitarian crisis on a colossal scale.
“Everyone is worried because winter is coming. The most important thing is heating. We need it to live.” Natasha, Dnipro
“Russia will try to freeze us, starve us and terrorize us into submission.” Yuri, Kyiv
“This is a question of survival, simply survival.” Elena, Kyiv
I pulled these quotes from some of many current news articles about the coming winter. As Russia continues to attack the infrastructure that supplies heat, electricity, and water to homes, hospitals, shelters, and orphanages, we at LHI are committed to doing everything we can to counter that destruction with sources of warmth. With your support, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians will make it through this winter alive. Thank you for standing with Ukraine!
Olga has gone on to make incredible journalistic videos about the war in Ukraine. See her channel here.
I watched some videos produced by the Ukrainian government encouraging people to stay strong. One such video shows ways to stay warm: hot water bottles, warm clothes, and a cat. Yes, a cat.