“Ukraine fights for the whole West, Italians stay close to us”

“Italy should not forget Ukraine”. It is the appeal of Anastasia Vendrov, a member of the Florentine Jewish Community of Ukrainian origin, protagonist of a series of humanitarian initiatives that recently have brought comfort to the civilian population in many ways. “Also thanks to the Italian electoral campaign, the media attention to the war has faded a bit. And this is a problem. It plays the game of Putin and his allies. It deadens the battle for freedom of a people who feel European”, she remarks.
The fear is that the more we go forward in this situation with no apparent way out, “the more this removal will take root”. With the ever more evident risk of losing sight of the central aspect of the question: “Ukraine is not only fighting for its own survival, but also for the whole West. Something that not everyone seems to have fully understood”.
Medicines, canned food, and personal hygiene products. From Anastasia house, in the Municipality of Tavernuzze, countless expeditions have left. It is a team effort that has seen her surrounded by many friends and associations that have contributed generously. “Today, the conflict has turned into something quite different from the first phase of the emergency. With stores reopening, this form of support has in fact become less necessary. But the chasm of humanitarian drama has only widened: a terrible situation”.
It is a theme, adds Vendrov, which also closely concerns our country: “Many have found refuge and solidarity here as well, but their dream is to return. How to blame them? Ukraine is their land, and in Ukraine they used to live happy and free. Except for the fact that millions of people, particularly from the occupied areas, will not be able to do so. I am in relationship with many refugees who have arrived from crisis scenarios. I try as much as possible to assist them, but it is not easy. It is a huge drama, a drama without perspective”. Anastasia’s family is very attached to the Jewish community of Kiev. Her parents were among the founders of the community school founded in 1990 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Here her thought on Russian aggression, which she already explained in Pagine Ebraiche: “Putin is a sick man, a monster. Someone needs to stop him. It is illusory to think that he may stop in Ukraine”.