A Letter from a Ukrainian Jazz Musician

I recently inquired about the dire situation in Ukraine from musician and
"Explorations" member Pavlo Butorin. This was his reply. His final sentence is
haunting me. It's so easy to forget how quickly millions of lives can be altered by
the actions of an ego driven mad man.

"Hello Mr. Kreisberg. I live in the center of Ukraine. City of Poltava. Our city has
now become a humanitarian center. Although there is not a large population here
(350,000), it is a regional center. Today, thank God, there are no hostilities in the
city and we are firmly entrenched, police and Ukrainian military are all over the
city. A lot of people moved here during the 2 weeks of the war from the destroyed
nearest large cities such as Kharkov and Sumy, as well as from small ones. I
sent my daughter, son and wife to Denmark to relatives (it was a very difficult
road, sometimes they were moving at a pedestrian speed in traffic jams, there
was a problem with fuel, total 6 days of hard traveling by car). Thank God they
are safe now. I stay with my parents now in Poltava, people from Kharkov were
settled in our apartment, who simply have nowhere to live. It is very difficult to be
at home now, where everything reminds me of the family where my children grew
up.
I will go to help sort things for humanitarian aid. A lot of people are now
volunteering, everyone believes in victory, they help each other, there is no place
for quarrels and disputes. At the same time, we are all worried about the hot
spots, they are not so far from us. We pray for our militaries who protect us at the
cost of their lives. Nevertheless, air warning alarms often sound in the city, it
really gets on your nerves, especially when you see very small children hiding in
the basements. Thank God there have been no explosions in our city yet. I have
laid down all my instruments, just can't work, because my thoughts out of music,
all my colleagues say the same, each of whom also helps the country in any way
he can. I see how the whole world supports us. In recent years I have been
creating music for various marketplaces, some of which are now simply paying
extra little money simply because I am Ukrainian. And this is very inspiring and
heartwarming, I am infinitely grateful to everyone who supports our country
because we have the truth on our side. Russia is waging a very insidious and vile
war from a position of strength. All the sanctions that hit here are working, but
unfortunately only in a longer perspective. The biggest problem is that now
bombs are falling on our cities and right now people, civilians and children are
dying. Most of all, Ukrainians now pray to close the airspace to the bombers,
although we all understand why Europe and America is in no hurry to do this and
we are truly grateful for what has already been done.
No one here can't believe even now what has happened. We live like in a scary
dream but we feel that Ukrainians and the whole world should understand
something very very very important is happening!
Our values have already changed. What seemed important no longer matters. On
the physical level, we feel how the body is being rebuilt, hormones are produced
that control the instincts of self-preservation, the psyche discards the unimportant
or destructive and concentrates on the critical."

If you are able, now seems like a crucial time. Go with the organization of your
choice, but give if you can. (I'm sticking with UNICEF)