Since the start of the war in Ukraine, more than 280,000 Ukrainians have resettled in the United States. According to Integrated Refugee Immigrant Services, there is roughly 1500 Ukrainian refugees settled in Connecticut.
Elected officials here in Connecticut have shown their support for Ukraine. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal has traveled several times since the start of the war to meet with President Zelensky. He has recently introduced a Senate resolution to address the threat Russia poses.
And some Connecticut residents have even gone to Ukraine to do what they can to aid the war effort.
Today, we talk to Larissa Babij. She is a Ukrainian American that grew up in Manchester, Connecticut. She lives in Kyiv, Ukraine working as a writer and translator. In her newsletter, “A Kind of Refugee” she writes about her life living in a war zone.
We also hear from Anna Koblyarz, a resident of Berlin, Connecticut and is raising money for the City of Goodness project, a shelter for women and children in need in Ukraine.
GUESTS:
- Anna Kobylarz: a resident of Berlin, Connecticut and president of the nonprofit Community Help. She is also the Director of the Humanitarian Mission of the Polish American Foundation of Connecticut.
- Larissa Babij: writer, translator and dancer living in Kyiv, Ukraine. Her newsletter is “A Kind of Refugee.”
You can find the Victoria Amelina poem "Testimony" read on today's broadcast on PEN Ukraine.
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