Outaouais resident from Ukraine discuses the current conflict in his country
Outaouais resident from Ukraine discuses the current conflict in his country
The current conflict in Ukraine is having repercussions as far reaching as here in the Outaouais. Eugene Lakinsky, of Ukraine, has been living in the Outaouais region for many years. He recently spoke to CHIP 101.9 regarding the Russian invasion of his country. Lakinsky mentioned being in constant communication with family members still in Ukraine.
“It’s really, really, really hard. We’re beside ourselves, we’re devastated, disappointed, but my personal suffering doesn’t nearly compare to the people living in Ukraine right now. My parents live in Odessa, in the south. My home town hasn’t been bombed yet, so my parents are still relatively safe, but things can change within a number of hours, given that it’s one of the cities being targeted by Russia,” Lankinsky said (tr.). “The neighboring city, for example, have already been attacked. Kherson and Mykolaiv are under attack, that’s the front line. Now, on the other hand, I have a lot of friends on Facebook spread out across the country, some living in the north, it’s a nightmare. For the people living Kharkiv, Kyiv, people from Sumy, it’s hell on earth.”
This is not the first time that Eugene Lakinsky has talked to CHIP 101.9 about Ukrainian politics. He spoke to us during the 2019 elections in Ukraine, where he highlighted the problematic nature of the relationship between Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Ukraine. Lakinsky said he hopes that the Ukrainian army will be able hold their ground and that the international community can show solidarity with Ukraine by providing weapons to the resistance fighters, and impose sanctions on Russia.
“Ukraine resists. Ukraine resists, and its hard, but Ukraine won’t give up. I also think that the international community has already done a lot, by imposing real sanctions on Russia. Not cosmetic sanctions like in 2014, but real sanctions that will limit Vladimir Putin’s capacity to attack others,” Lakinsky said (tr.). “I am truly grateful for the international community for having supplied arms to the Ukrainian army to the volunteers, because without weapons, you can’t really defend yourself. Ukraine is currently facing one of the largest armies in the World. I just hope that will allow Ukraine to defend itself, to resist and to survive.”
During the interview, Eugene Lakinsky said he’s finding it extremely difficult to see the images and the Russian attacks, according to recent reports, on residential neighborhoods.
The full (French-language) interview with Ukrainian and Outaouais resident Eugene Lakinsky is available here.
