2 years ago I lived on the 16th floor of a high rise building in Dnipro, Ukraine. 2 years ago today, I woke up at around 6am and opened my twitter account to find out Russia had invaded Ukraine. (1)

I remember having this sinking feeling. As in I felt my heart physically drop to my feet. I remember looking outside and seeing military everywhere. It’s really hard to explain (2)

The weeks leading up to the invasion, anytime you brought up the W word, the locals, our unis, other students would automatically tell you “it’s sensationalism from the west”. So maybe this was also sensationalism, maybe it wasn’t going to be that bad? (3)

So many things went on in my mind, I think I must have done the entire grief cycle that morning. I denied, I was angry, I was sad… I was in shock. The rest of the day we stayed put trying to figure out what do we do… (4)

Today is the 2nd year anniversary of the Russia - Ukraine war. A war that has claimed the lives of so many, and I have tried to think of the best words I can use to advocate for my community, the best words to use to express how I truly feel, but I can’t (5)

How do I explain what it was like to try and get on a bus to flee for your life and be told you can’t because the bus is for Ukrainians only? (6)

How do I explain, have to walk for days because no bus or train will allow you on because of the colour of your skin? (7)