“I personally feel guilty that I'm not there with my mum and my best friends who are living in these tense situations.
“I also think about other Ukrainians who are strangers to me but being from the same place. I understand their pain.”
Maryna is trying to work out a way to bring her mother and grandma out from Odessa as the city has been identified as potentially the next target of the Russian forces. “Just thinking of the situation they are in makes me panic but I'm trying to stay calm.”
A “big part” of her family are residing in Kherson (south of Ukraine) and are scared for their wellbeing since it fell to Russian troops last week.
With humanitarian corridors being blocked, people are unable to move out of the captured city to a safe haven.
However, she has been communicating with her family most days via text messages.
“I ask ‘are you alright?' and they always answer ‘we're alive' and that's enough for me.”
While most of her friends have moved to a “safer place”, she has been unable to establish any connection with one of her best friends who is living in Kyiv (the capital) and is a mother of three.
“I'm praying for her safety and praying for Ukraine.”
From her perspective there is only one aggressor — Russia's president Vladimir Putin, who she says has spread his “acts of terrorism” to her country and “history will remember him for what he did”.
“We are asking the Russian army to stop and leave Ukraine and go home,” Maryna says.
“There are so many young soldiers on both sides who don't need to give their lives away and be killed for somebody's glory and interest.”
Maryna decided to organise a march in the region after she was unable to join demonstrations held in other parts of the country.
As the mother of a two-year-old and working full-time, she has been unable to travel to join a demonstration.
“That's why I want to raise my voice here and show my support to all my Ukrainian people — that we stand by them and stand for peace.”
One of the other purposes of the march is to spread the “call for unity”.
Maryna says the conflict between the two countries has caused a “big separation” between the Ukrainian and Russian communities in New Zealand.
Sarcastic and cruel comments are doing the rounds on some social media platforms.
“I know it's hard to control the anger and emotions but at the same time we have to be united now and show the world that we are not against each other but against one aggressor,” she says.
“We are not giving up so easily . . . we'll fight till the last moment. I'm proud to be a Ukrainian and always will be.”
People who want to show their support for the march for peace on March 12 can bring along any blue or yellow clothes, flags and placards with words of support.
The march is expected to start at 10am and finish by 11am. If more than 25 people are attending the event, people may be required to show vaccine passes as per Covid-19 restriction policies.
To offer further support, contact Maryna on makivi38@gmail.com
