The images and stories coming out of Ukraine the past few weeks have been sad and shocking.
A needless and unjust war from a ruthless power monger has put the whole world on edge.
Here in Delta, when we reached out on social media to interview residents with ties or family connections to Ukraine, the response was swift as people were more than willing to offer their thoughts.
Sergey Kulikov from Ladner is watching his homeland crumble.
He told us stories of his father Vladimir, who in his hometown of Kharkiv, has been forced into the subway station, which is serving as a bomb shelter, at night to get away from the bombings.
His childhood friends have taken up arms and joined the fight for their country.
His story is heartbreaking.
My friend Andrew Neufeld also told us about his family and how they literally escaped with the clothes on their backs during the Russian Revolution.
He said this invasion by Russian President Vladimir Putin is eerily similar to what his family went through when they fled Ukraine for Canada.
Delta Mayor George Harvie has seen and heard this story before, as his grandparents fled Ukraine during the First World War. He put it well in our interview that we might complain about trivial things such as missing a flight and then we see another homeland under attack, their homes and livelihoods destroyed and it really puts things into perspective.
These past two years have been a trying time as we have all faced different struggles and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But none of what we, or I for that matter, have faced comes even close to what the Ukrainian people are faced with now.
It makes putting on a mask and getting a vaccine seem very trivial.
