Dearest Papa
A letter from a daughter to her Father in Kyiv, Ukraine
How are you? Are you ok? My body aches with fear for you. I wish I had never come to Portugal last week. My stomach is tied in knots as I watch the news of all the bombs, grenades and bullets raining down on Ukraine. It’s not fair. I’m scared Papa. Scared for you and scared for bibusya and didus. Scared for our home. They are bombing everything. They bombed the hospital, elementary schools and buildings with women and children in them! How can they do that? Are we not human beings? Are we just rats to Putin?
Mama told me you decided to stay in Kyiv and fight. I thought you were going to keep reporting news for the radio but she said you’ve taken up arms to defend our country from Russian criminals. Mama told me you took my black marker and colored away the white ‘Press’ letters from your black helmet. Your press helmet is now your war helmet, it made me cry to imagine you coloring the helmet, preparing for battle with my marker. It feels like I was with you. If I had any idea Russia would attack us like this, I wouldn’t have left for Portugal last week. I’m scared for you Papa. I’m praying for your safety every minute. Praying these bombs will stop soon and our people will stop dying.
Next week is my birthday. How can I turn 17 without you by my side Papa? I can’t live without you, who will help me with my Math and Chemistry homework? Who will hug me when I’m sad? All I want is for us all to be together, at home. Mama will make borscht, I will bake the paska. I will need you to knead the dough properly in the end, it’s hard for me to do it by myself. Little Yuriy will set the table, we’ll light the candles and eat hot borscht and paska, still warm from the oven. Little Miro will be begging for some sausage, Mama and you will drink too much wine and we will all laugh uncontrollably about something silly! That’s a ‘birthday’! I will not turn 17 or 18 or any other age until we can all be together again.
Next week, my friends and I are planning something special. I may not have a gun like you and your comrades Papa, but we will fight for Ukraine in our own way. We are organizing a huge march to the NATO headquarters in Brussels. We are also sharing the plan on Social media so teenagers from all across Europe can join us to demand justice for Ukraine. NATO must declare Ukraine a No Fly Zone! We will demand, beg, and cry for justice for Ukraine. The skies above Ukraine must be closed. Our brave people will fight for our country but we cannot defend ourselves from attacks from the sky. We already have 2000 people who have committed to coming and I’m sure over the next few days, many more will join.
Last night I dreamt of that time when I was 6 and had lost my favorite doll, Alyosha. I was crying bitterly. Everyone said, don’t worry we can get you another one but you Papa understood my tears. You picked me up and we went back to the park to look for Alyosha. When we saw him on the ground below the slide, I was so happy! I cried happy tears, the tears weren’t only because I was reunited with my favorite doll but also because you were the best Papa in the world. You understood how important Alyosha was to me and that made me feel loved.
I understand how important this resistance to Russia is, I understand how important it is to protect our home, I understand how important it is to fight against this injustice and stop this unfair attack on freedom. I will fight from the outside Papa and I will get the world to join us #CloseTheSky #NoFlyZoneUkraine #NatoSayNoFly #UkrainiansWillResist
I love you.
Yours,
Natalka
Author’s note: This story was written after listening to an interview of Yuriy, a journalist and radio show host in Ukraine. Yuriy is no longer working at his radio job, he has taken up arms to defend his country. Yuriy does have a daughter whose 17th birthday is next week, she is safely away from Ukraine at the moment. His message to the world is this, we all can help the people of Ukraine. The citizens of the free world must demand that the NATO enforces a #NoFlyZone over Ukraine. Ukrainians are defending their country with everything they have but cannot protect themselves from Russian attacks from above. #CloseTheSky #UkrainiansResist
All Pictures licensed from Adobe Stock
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