As Russia conducts an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, New Mexico residents with ties to the country are organizing to provide help to their home country.
As scores of local Ukrainian Americans step up to offer aid to their homeland, they are hoping that some of their new neighbors in New Mexico will feel compelled to offer their support, according to KRQE. One area resident, Nataliya Pavlenko Edelman, grew up in Kyiv; she said to KRQE that she still has friends and family in the country.
“Just last night, my friends started to call me and just like screaming and crying, and they say it’s bombing,” she said to KRQE. “Many people crying, because we couldn’t help. We don’t know how to help them right now.”
Ukrainian Americans of New Mexico have been using social media to stage public demonstrations, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Pavlenko Edelman told KRQE that Ukrainian Americans in New Mexico also have been reaching out to state lawmakers, hoping to get help for their home country.
As for military assistance, Pavlenko Edelman said to the station that she understands Ukraine must fight its own battle, understanding that intervention by the United States or its NATO allies in the region could trigger a world war. She told the station that her homeland is prepared to fight.