‘Shock, desolation, disappointment’: Big Island’s Russian and Ukrainian natives react to war

She is angry. She feels helpless. She hides her tears from her children and doesn’t want to scare them with the news.

For Natasha R., a Ukrainian who now lives in Waikōloa, the Russian invasion of her homeland is hitting far too close to home, especially since she still has family there. She did not want to share her surname for fear of backlash from supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I am terribly angry. I’m just desperate that I can’t help my family,” she told Big Island Now. “I call my mother every hour and I try to support her morally. Fortunately, the Internet and cell phones work.

Emotion is rising in the Ukrainian and Russian communities of the Big Island. Several of them were willing to share their thoughts on the invasion, which began late Wednesday night, February 23, Hawaii time.

According to an Associated Press report, Russia launched airstrikes on cities and military bases in Ukraine and sent troops and tanks into the country from three sides in the first salvo of the invasion. Dozens of Ukrainians, civilians and soldiers, were killed during the first full day of fighting.

Natasha R.’s family lives in Berdychiv, a town near Zhytomyr, the administrative center of Zhytomyr province in north-central Ukraine. She said they were extremely scared.

“An airport was bombed near my home in Zhytomyr. The roads are partially closed. My brother drove from Kyiv to Berdychiv (60 miles) for about eight hours,” she said. “When my mother called me (Wednesday) evening and told me the war had started, I was at work. I just couldn’t breathe and speak in horror. I can’t sleep and I cry all the time.

She said Ukrainians did not believe Putin would take military action.

“Everyone was hoping it was a show and political intrigue,” Natasha R. said.

Putin, for weeks, denied plans to invade Ukraine, according to the AP story.

“The autocratic leader made it clear earlier this week that he saw no reason for Ukraine to exist, raising fears of a possible wider conflict in the vast space the Soviet Union once ruled,” the article said. “Putin has denied plans to occupy Ukraine, but his ultimate goals remain unclear.”

Although she feels powerless to do anything, Natasha R. said the Ukrainians are not sitting idly by and letting Russia do whatever it wants.

“People are tired of being scared and ready to go all the way,” she said. “Ukrainian civilian(s) began to actively resist. Our friends (they are hunters) near Kharkov burned a Russian tank with Molotov cocktails (tankers were saved and captured).

She added that Ukrainians were lining up as volunteers for the army. But the rest of the world must also mobilize.

“Ukraine needs help from all over the world,” Natasha R. said. “That damned idiot won’t stop taking over Ukraine.”

Fear, anger and shock were common emotions among members of Big Island’s Russian and Ukrainian communities who spoke with Big Island Now on Thursday. Many of them did not expect Putin to take such steps when others saw them coming. A common denominator, however, is that none of them want war.

“The war is on,” said Natasha G., a Muscovite who now lives in Waimea. She also didn’t want to give her last name for the same reason as Natasha R. “And nobody wants it – neither the Russians, nor the Ukrainians. Only one person who started wants to show the world that he can do it, and for him, it doesn’t matter how it will affect us all in the future.

She and her family were in O’ahu on Wednesday when they saw the first news of the invasion.

“We were in shock, desolation, disappointment,” she told Big Island Now. “We couldn’t believe it, that the Russian government started the war. Not the people, the government. Of course, there are people who support the Russian government and military people who follow the orders and orders of the government. But so many Russians don’t want that.

Natasha G. believes that Russians and Ukrainians around the world are upset and frustrated by the events currently unfolding in Eastern Europe.

“We don’t want this war; we didn’t ask for it, there was no reason to start it,” she said. “I don’t think anyone knows what the ‘goal’ is for all of this. No one knows what will happen next. Personally, I expect Ukrainians to fight for their country and Russians to fight against the Russian government to stop the war.

Lily H., from Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, and now living in Waikoloa, said she was terrified because there was no guarantee Putin would stop.

“There is no guarantee that this psychopathic dictator will stop short of killing hundreds of thousands of people who defend their freedom and sovereignty,” she told Big Island Now. She also did not want to share her surname for fear of backlash from Putin supporters in the community.

For one thing, she and others have been following the news of Russian forces gathering around the Ukrainian border over the past two months. On the other hand, she did not expect it to be such an open, shameless and ruthless military intervention before the eyes of the whole world.

“I thought it was a bluff. Unfortunately, I was wrong,” Lily H. said. “I find it hard to imagine how Ukrainians who have family members living in Ukraine are feeling right now. I totally support them. I wish them to stay strong.

Alexander Sidelev, originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, and whose family is mixed Russian and Ukrainian, now lives in Hawaiian Beaches. He heard about the invasion while checking social media on Wednesday evening as he was about to sit down to dinner.

He was a person who expected something to go wrong.

“Too many indicators were on before,” Sidelev told Big Island Now. “Yet even if you expect a war, you are shaken when you hear it.”

He is saddened by the unnecessary loss of life and prays for the conflict to end as soon as possible.

“As a Christian, I condemn any war,” Sidelev said. “Many of my compatriots feel the same; there are anti-war demonstrations in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Her mother, Olga Sidelev, who also lives in the Hawaiian Beaches, said she felt anxious, sad and worried about what was happening in her homeland.

“I cry just watching the news,” she told Big Island Now. “However, I feel that the current situation is a failure of global diplomacy.”

Olga Sidelev said that although she hates Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, she thinks the Ukrainian president should have surrendered to save people’s lives. She also said that as a new American citizen, she did not want the United States to send troops to Eastern Europe to support a Ukrainian regime which she said had failed in all areas – economy, diplomacy and support for his people.

“I can’t see more people dying,” she said. “Because they are all of my people. Russian, Ukrainian, American soldiers, these are my people. Having a son that age, I don’t want them to die. And now I’m crying again.

And while emotions were running high, certain politics were also at play among members of the island’s Russian and Ukrainian communities.

“It is obvious that Russia is now being run by the Nazi government, which is killing its opposition leaders and threatening not only its neighbors but everyone progressive with a nuclear weapon,” Lily H. said. “The idea Putin’s mania for restoring the Soviet Union is what we are seeing in Ukraine right now.”

She strongly condemns Russia for all its actions against Ukraine and hopes that a progressive world will hold Putin accountable for all the lives he has already taken.

Natasha G. said she and her compatriots just want to live in peace and communicate with their families and friends.

“I firmly believe that Russia should not do anything with Ukraine and not interfere in the internal politics of Ukraine and certainly not seize the territories of Ukraine that do not belong to Russia” , she said.

Alex Sidelev said natural gas was still flowing from Russia via Ukraine to the rest of Europe. And since the green energy movement cannot keep up with demand, Russia will continue to dominate the energy sector.

“Russian investors are still trading in global markets,” he said. “Western sanctions are a paper tiger, especially in the world of web3 (Cryptocurrency, blockchain, etc.). It really does feel like the Western allies have served Ukraine on a silver platter. Ultimately, Russia is a more important trading partner.

He also criticized the role of the United States in what is happening in Eastern Europe.

“The unfolding events are the result of failed US foreign policy,” Sidelev said. “Putin saw an opportunity to grow, and he seized it. Once the Afghan allies were betrayed, the Ukrainians would be too. Unfortunately, the devil in the Kremlin is more important to the West than the lives of Ukrainians.

Regardless of their politics, however, the consensus was that there was no need to go to war.

“My family does not support any violence against Ukraine,” Natasha G. said. “We grew up in the Soviet Union; for us, people who speak Russian, who know the Russian language, are not our enemies. Yes, we have different visions of our lives, of politics, of religion, etc. But I think there is still a certain relationship between Russians and Ukrainians.