The Personal Story of a Ukrainian Citizen Community Members Cast Their Vote in

Anastasiya Zvir has lived her whole life witnessing the tumultuous times in Ukraine

by Elizabeth Hamby, Co-Editor-In-Chief

Anastasiya Zvir has lived in Ukraine all 20 years of her life and has had a front-row seat to the making of history in her country.

She is currently a junior attending Ukrainian Catholic College in Lviv studying political science. She came to the US a couple of years ago as an exchange student and responded to a recent interview request with LHS Publications in 2022.

She is the head of many political leadership clubs and has helped found an organization called Save Art UA that aims to spread awareness for the ruined historical artifacts and sites that have been destroyed by bombs dropped by Russia in the recent war of 2022.

Unlike Americans reading of history, Zvir is living in the making of history.

“When it all started, I was a kid, and now I’m an adult,” Zvir had said in disbelief.

She accounts that citizens of Ukraine were very unhappy with the president and felt like he wasn’t making the best decisions for the people of his country. If he were to sign the agreement, the EU promised to provide Ukraine with support in different aspects like financial and political standings and provide them access to certain knowledge and trades within the union.

“If you (President Victor Yanukovych) are not listening to your Ukrainian people you shouldn’t be our president,” said Zvir.

The peaceful protests in the capital of Kyiv were photo by A. Zvir mainly made up of students, but nevertheless, they were broken up forcefully after the direct order of the president.

It was then in February 2022 news broke that Russia had officially started invading Ukraine, and all around the US people were watching the news about it. Now it’s May, and the Ukraine conflict with Russia is still very prevalent, and many are still losing their lives and homes that contain their lives.

Zvir personally never felt the desire to leave her home country but she and her family felt a calling to do whatever they needed to do to help the efforts for the good of their country.

Her brother, 17 at the time, had the same desire to join the military efforts but was turned down for drafting.

“Thank God they didn’t take him, they said you’re still a kid — enjoy the last of childhood,” Zvir said.

Although Zvir says she is in no immediate danger at this moment in time, she made it clear that the danger isn’t over for many Ukrainians and they still need the world’s support.

Mental health is drastically declining she says as war tends to do and many Ukrainians including herself have become numb to the pain and suffering they have endured.

“I don’t cry anymore. I’m afraid that I have become emotionless,” Zvir claimed. She recalled when her roommate came home to the dorm crying about someone she had just lost to the war. Zvir has heard of this millions of times, but was at a loss of what to say when it was someone close to her who had lost a special somebody. “(It was) hard to realize that I became resistant, because I heard so many tragic stories about death, and loss,” Zvir said. Zvir urges everybody to do what they can to support Ukraine, even something as simple as hosting a non-perishable canned food drive for soldiers would be a tremendous help for them. She says don’t stop posting on social media or asking questions of Ukrainian people. She suggested even going as far as starting an initiative to work hand in hand with Ukrainian organizations. Zvir says they are trustworthy and they need the help.

Zvir is actively trying to create a new normal for herself and is trying to balance her ever-growing schedule of volunteering initiatives and schoolwork all at the same time. Although she was preparing for the day the Russians would attack early in 2022, she never knows when the sirens may go off and she will have to run to the safety of a bomb shelter. “Every time when there is a missile launched in the direction of a certain city, citizens are notified and have approximately 5 minutes to go to the bomb shelter,” Zvir said. Zvir says she is blessed in having a bomb shelter at her college where students can continue their work with stable Internet.

This conflict is still as prevalent as ever and Ukraine still needs the support of the world in order to conquer the catastrophic harm Russia is causing.

April 4, 2022: President Zelensky labeled Russia’s actions as genocide and criticized the sparse sanctions of the West. April 19, 2022: Russia launched another invasion from Kharkiv to Donetsk and Luhansk and continued strikes on Kyiv. May 2, 2022: Roughly 100 people were evacuated by the UN from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.