VOICE4Ukraine

Every time we record interviews with wonderful Swedes, I try to keep the story short. Because people don't like long reads, and long videos they also don't watch, - YouTube says to me. But I can not. I have no power in my heart to shorten them. Because every story, every photo, every word, every look, every minute, every kilometer, every Swedish krona, every car, every tourniquet, every box of food or diapers, every generator or sleeping bag, every song or Bayraktar, every hand or life, dedicated to Ukraine, is PRICELESS for me! Today VOICE4Ukraine sounds great from four incredible men - Swedish paramedic and driver Pär Johansson, Swedish musician, famous drummer Micke Syd Andersson from popular music band Gyllene Tider, Polish publicist and translator Nikodem Szczygłowski and representative of the critical infrastructure organization Roman Tarasovych from Ukraine. Together with the team of Blåljus i Samverkan - a Swedish foundation that was initiated to support injured colleagues from the police, ambulance and fire services - they have already raised 6 million SEK, bought and brought 9 ambulances, 2 rescue vehicles and brought a lot of medical equipment for the armed forces of Ukraine. 2 days ago, the Blåljus i Samverkan team raised more than 60,000 SEK in 24 hours for the Swedish medical forces which are a part of one Ukrainian military brigade. War is such a scary, terrible, and unbelievable time for anyone with a heart, I think. And at the same time, it opens in ordinary people the deepest inner resources of help, compassion, and true love for others. The huge mechanisms of states cannot act quickly. That is why people begin to create miracles with their own hands. “You 'ordinary' people come to us 'ordinary' people to become extraordinary people,” Mike Andersson told me. And this is the truth about this real war and the role of real People from all over the world in it. If you want to hear more such stories, please support the Voice4Ukraine project on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Voice4Ukraine/

Olof Kleberg is 84 years old. He has been working as a journalist all his life. For many years, he was the editor-in-chief of the large newspaper "Swedish Daily" in the north of Sweden. He worked in the OSCE in Sweden for almost ten years. As part of the OSCE mission, he spent four days in Kyiv in November 2013, when Ukraine was chairing the OSCE, and a congress from all over Europe was held in Kyiv.- I remember how the former Minister of Foreign Affairs then constantly informed foreign media that everything was calm in Kyiv. But we watched the beginning of the Maidan from our hotel, - says Olof, - My unforgettable impression of the Ukrainian protest at that time: this revolution was initiated by ordinary people. We saw it with our own eyes and talked a lot with people on the streets.Now Olof is a freelance journalist. He writes a lot about democracy in the countries of Eastern Europe, and after the Revolution of Dignity - about Ukraine as well. To my question, did he think that the Maidan would end with the victory of the protesters, and then with the annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas, and a full-fledged bloody invasion on February 24, he replied that he was very naive and believed that after the Helsinki Agreements, respect for borders in Europe is from now on forever. Today, Olof is experiencing great disappointment."Putin understands that nuclear weapons will make *ussian land uninhabitable..." - Olof assures me. In addition, he believes that ordinary *ussian people cannot be condemned because they are not Ukrainians who have always lived more freely and had strong public organizations. "It is not their fault that their country's leader is a dictator", - says Olof.In any case, I am sincerely grateful to Olof Kleberg for being a regular participant in all demonstrations in support of Ukraine in Stockholm during the entire 8 months of the war. He diligently tries to explain to his readers and familiar Swedes everything he understands about Ukraine, Ukrainians, and our war. He is sincerely convinced that Ukrainians are also fighting for Europe.And this is another small Ukrainian victory in our big information war with the "narrow" neighbors.We continue to work so that there will be more such victories every day.If you want to see more such stories, please support the Voice4Ukraine project on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Voice4Ukraine/🇺🇦 🇸🇪 Слава Україні!

VOICE4Ukraine today belongs to the master of photos Sarah Rimmö-ToureDuring the Summer, Sarah made her photo project showing Ukrainian children in Uppsala. The result of her hard but soul-beautiful work became her photo exhibition "Luxate" which was shown at the Uppsala International Photo Festival in September 2022.LUXATE (DISJOINTED)In the first six months after Russia's war against Ukraine, over 40,000 Ukrainian refugees had received protection in Sweden, a large part of them are children. There is roughly the same number of people who live in Kalmar or Kristianstad or a quarter of Uppsala's population. With a focus on the children, Sarah Toure's portrait project LUXATE (Disjointed, in Swedish "disjointed, taken apart") wants to shed light on this enormous amount and show the people behind the statistics. Who are they, their names, and what do they dream about? Around 40 children living in Uppsala after fleeing Ukraine have been photographed and interviewed. They are individual portraits, but they are shown grouped to reinforce the impression of the multitude of children whose lives have been drastically affected by the war. In all seriousness, there is still light in children's dreams and thoughts.More details of the project and answers of Ukrainian children are here https://cutt.ly/jB2VFPMThanks a lot to Oksana Dudarko and Elena Chaykina for their help and feedback!With every such beautiful story of support, I believe even more that Ukraine will win this war because of the light and fire in the heart of our friends around the world.

#voice4ukraine #standwithukrianeThis day came! And we recently made a great video about the great team of Refugee Support Uppsala for VOICE4UkraineRefugee Support Uppsala is spreading weekly more than 1000 kilos of food and helping more than 1000 Ukrainians monthly. The center exists by donations only. Now it is situated at the art gallery of Mankan Thorneus, and the state does not help with its maintenance.The team needs more donations because the flow of Ukrainians is increasing only. The war is continuing, and winter is coming... If you want to help the team and hundreds of Ukrainians, please:SWISHa går bra till föreningens Ordförande Maria Talajić Fredlund på 0733960036, märk med UKRAINA Such light stories of support give us hope that it is possible to live further and have more power of spirit till Ukraine Victory day.If you want to see more such stories, please support the Voice4Ukraine project on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Voice4Ukraine/Subscribeto watch - https://cutt.ly/jL9iMGRto hear - https://cutt.ly/zL9i2wd Слава Україні!

Michael (the name was changed for safety reasons) fought for Ukraine near Mykolayiv for 3 months. He and his friend worked as instructors for the special forces team of Ukrainian soldiers. Michael worked in Swedish Armed Forces for 8 years. And the very first war experience he got in Ukraine this Spring.The young man in a snow-white summer t-shirt smiled sincerely when he went to us through the green Summer city park of Uppsala. This meeting brought to my mind another day when I met with a good friend from childhood who became a volunteer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Autumn of 2014. When he returned from the frontline, he came to my house in a snow-white t-shirt with a big white creamy cake and almost without words about this war.Conversation with the Swedish soldier is significant for me. Because it is about simple, clear, and honest nobility in action."The decision for me to go to fight for Ukraine was like if your neighbor's house burns, you will go and help him put out the fire. You will not just sit and wait. It is weird for me," - the young man told me, who came to fight for Ukraine right that day when my family and I decided to close the door of our home and go out far from russian air attacks."I went because I could not stand and watch what Russia was doing; they have done the same to many countries, and it was enough for me; it could be Sweden someday. I had to act, my neighbor needed help, so I helped. I have been a soldier all my life, and that is what I do best", - Michael said.This interview is the first where it is only me on screen for safety reasons for Michael. It is an unusual but interesting experience to perceive someone's story through the eyes of another one. "It is nice to be alive!" - Michael told me. I believe that many Ukrainians he fought for would say the same to you.It is priceless to hear such stories. Stand with Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!If you want to see more such stories, please support the Voice4Ukraine project on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/Voice4Ukraine/Subscribeto watch - https://cutt.ly/jL9iMGRto hear - https://cutt.ly/zL9i2wd Слава Україні!

Kalush Orchestra performed in Stockholm!Their arrival was organized by the fantastic team of Help Ukraine Gothenburg and Stockholm Pride.The purpose of organizing the band's performance was to collect as much money as possible to purchase a new ambulance (already the sixth on account of Help Ukraine Gothenburg) for Ukraine, as well as a lot of necessary medical equipment for Ukrainian soldiers.The winners of Eurovision 2022 performed brightly, professionally, and coolly and grabbed the hearts of the viewers ! The team of VOICE4Ukraine spoke with the guys about Ukrainian music, the war in Ukraine, and their mission in this cruel war against russian evil.Despite the record number of tickets sold for the concert, unfortunately, it was not possible to raise funds for an ambulance for Ukraine .While watching this video, give up your daily cup of coffee to the Help Ukraine Gothenburg so that all the efforts spent on organizing such an important event, which is tremendous for this small but fantastic team, in addition to information resonance in Swedish society, will also bring a new powerful ambulance that will save our military and civilian compatriots.The concert of Kalush ended. The war continues. We cannot stop volunteering, fighting, and supporting until we win this war! Raise your Voice4Ukraine! Become our patron https://www.patreon.com/Voice4Ukraine/Donate for the Help Ukraine Gothenburg - https://www.helpukrainegbg.se/

In addition to pain and anger, the war brought numbers to the lives of Ukrainians. Big numbers. Several times a day, our brain, like a drug addict, dives into the numbers of enemies who went to fertilize the Ukrainian land; the numbers of weapons and aid promised daily by the Allies; the numbers of victims who are mourned every day by the whole our country.We count economic losses, years of recovery, and kilometers of reclaimed land in Ukraine.Ukrainians and people worldwide worry that they are not helping enough now. Not thousands of dollars, but hundreds of hryvnias. Not hundreds of people, but "only" dozens. Not dozens, but "only" units. Not help to many, but "only" to someone: one soldier, one refugee, one woman, one child...But only when you become this "someone" by yourself you can realize how invaluable such help is.After leaving Vyshgorod in the third week of the war, we were sitting on three backpacks in the Lviv railway station flooded with silent black people in March with two frightened children and a two-month-old baby in front of us. It seemed to me that there was no way out.But step by step, person by person, it became clear. A call from an old friend with a clear plan for the near future. A conversation with my Mom who supported my decision to take the children out. A timely mention of an old acquaintance of our family when someone in Sweden wanted to help someone from Ukraine. The support of the partners in more than ten years ago project - they paid for the night in the hotel, where we were able to wash for the first time after a three-day journey. This is how our family ended up in the homeland of the Vikings.Sara Friman is the next heroine of Voice4Ukraine. A professional nurse with many years of managerial experience, she is the director of a private clinic for people with mental and social disabilities. She and her team helped our family with housing, job, and everything from food to clothes when we arrived in Uppsala. We have never met before. They knew almost nothing about Ukraine. But they got used to helping people in need. Göransgården has a long tradition of helping people seeking refuge in Sweden during different wars. And from now on, our family is inscribed in their light history of supporting and practical love to a neighbor.More about Göransgården's unique approach to all those in need is in our conversation with Sara and also at their website: https://www.goransgarden.se/.With tremendous gratitude from the bottom of my heart to Sara and Göransgården, I want to say to everyone who wants to help more. If you think you have helped "only" one person, you have saved the unique universe. So please never let big numbers go ahead of the one human life and soul.Subscribeto watch - https://cutt.ly/jL9iMGRto hear - https://cutt.ly/zL9i2wd🇺🇦 🇸🇪 Слава Україні!

Коли над рідними містами вночі летять ворожі ракети, часом опускаються руки, бо що мирні люди можуть протиставити зброї...Але боротьба за наш народ зараз іде не тільки на теренах нашої Батьківщини. Не зупиняючись, триває й інша війна по всьому світові. Війна світоглядна і інформаційна. І вона вже сьогодні дає свої дуже важливі результати для перемоги України.Дев'ятий випуск Voice4Ukrainе ми записали прямо на демонстрації у Стокгольмі. Поговорили з неймовірною Аліною Зубкович, директоркою Nordic Ukraine Forum. Ця організація активних українців Швеції з 2013 року невпинно ділиться зі шведами українською експертизою, розповідає про українську культуру, історію, наші здобутки та особливості, будуючи міцні містки та живі зв'язки між шведською та українською спільнотами. Сьогодні надзвичайно важливо голосно і чітко говорити про Україну у світі. І команда Nordic Ukraine Forum це робить неперевершено. Від початку повномасштабного вторгнення росії вже четвертий місяць поспіль збираючи сотні шведів і українців на майданах Стокгольму, допомагаючи українцям, що отримали прихисток у Швеції, надихаючи шведський уряд та політиків на прийняття доленосних рішень для нашої держави.Говоримо з Аліною українською! Надихніться і ви!Дивитись - https://cutt.ly/JLw9YwuСлухати - https://cutt.ly/HLw9Ia8🇺🇦 🇸🇪 Слава Україні!Якщо ви знаєте історії підтримки України зі Швеції, які надихають, будь ласка, поділіться ними у приватне повідомлення або на емейл voice4ukraine@voice.se