Storytelling is an artform that we don’t often highlight at the Thornapple Arts Council. With this piece, we’re changing that by focusing on the story of a teenager from Ukraine who came to Barry County, made a home in West Michigan, and is now watching her country under attack from the other side of the world.
Natasha, a Ukrainian-American woman living in West Michigan, was interviewed for this article on March 15th, 2022. The interview was conducted by Thornapple Arts Council staff, led by Executive Director Megan Lavell. With the exception of the introduction, the resulting piece was written by Lavell using notes and quotes yielded by the interview.
Introduction
by Kathleen Welch, TAC Marketing and Tech Coordinator
I first met Natasha in high school, in the 2005-2006 school year. It was my sophomore year at Maple Valley, the school district that I had called home since kindergarten. Though I had lived my entire life to that point in the same house in the same small town of Nashville, my family had hosted a foreign exchange student the previous year. This had sparked an interest in all the exchange students to come, windows as they were into different worlds and cultures that seemed indescribably far away.
Natasha was one such exchange student, coming to Maple Valley that year as a senior. We found ourselves in similar social circles in the succeeding months, spending time with the same people at school and taking the same dance class in our free time. Thanks to Facebook — which had only just expanded from a college-only platform to include high school users that same year — we have stayed connected in the intervening years, watching each other’s transitions into adulthood and subsequent journeys through life and around the world. When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, I was taken back to those high school days and the friend I’d made all those years ago at Maple Valley.
In this piece, Natasha gives us the unique opportunity to see what’s happening halfway around the world from the perspective of one who came of age in our own backyard.
Ukraine and Barry County
by Megan Lavell, TAC Executive Director
I
I got up this morning and had coffee in my cushy chair on my quiet street in my safe town. My cat was locked outside overnight and his yowling disturbed my meditation.
My chair and living room and lamp-light meditation are a world away from the war-torn reality of hundreds of thousands of people across the world who woke up in bomb shelters and train stations. People whose first waking moment is not consumed with the smell of coffee but the smell of their lives burning to the ground. People who aren’t startled by the sound of a too-early alarm clock but shattered by the sound of a too-close bomb.
Gas prices are high. Food prices are high. Store shelves are empty of basic goods for the first time in my life. But my street is still quiet. My home is still safe. My children and pets and everything we own are where they are supposed to be, not crammed into what fits on my back and in my arms so I can carry it to what I only hope will be safety.
How did we get here? Could we have prevented it? How do we get through this? How can we help? How do we protect our own lives? These questions do not produce answers in abidance with consensus. Suddenly our nation seems to have found the only common ground it’s seen since I can remember: this is bad, and it’s likely going to get worse. The agreement seems to end there.
We are all living in the same dystopian reality without an exit, like being locked in a stifling closet by a petulant, bullying neighbor who turned the light off and jammed the door knob on his way out. We can’t see. We can’t find an escape. We can’t rest. Now it’s getting harder to breathe.
Is this the beginning of a third world war? Is this the eve of nuclear holocaust? Is this the moment that humanity will band together and say no — no more violence, no more war, no more suffering at the hands of our brothers?
These are big questions without answers.
II
You might be asking yourself what arts and culture in Barry County has to do with the war ravaging a country more than 4,000 miles away. If that is your question, then I answer it with this one: Is it not the burden of each human to use what they have, to leverage their resources, to lessen the burden of another? Is it not programmed into our DNA to care about our fellow (hu)man in their hour of need? If that reason is not enough to justify local resources on international affairs, I offer you this.
Ukrainian culture is under attack. Churches, museums, libraries. Their history, their present, what they have held dear for their future. The things that make a nation’s people who they are being rendered to piles of smoking rubble. As one small cultural organization to a whole national culture, we must do what we can to preserve what remains. Imagine being stripped bare of the things our nation holds most dear — our monuments and historical museums, concert halls and national parks. Imagine not only our nation’s rape for natural resources, but pillaging of cultural resources. Now imagine how people in Ukraine feel as they watch this happen.
Included among Ukraine’s cultural losses so far are the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol, which was destroyed by a Russian airstrike, and the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum, which was burned to the ground. The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Complex in Kyiv was destroyed, as was the century-old Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theatre. The G12 Art School in Eastern Mariupol was also destroyed, with 400 civilians sheltering there.
Despite efforts to protect Ukraine’s education and heritage, UNESCO has verified damage to at least 53 cultural sites throughout the country since the war began.
The constant bombardment of information takes its toll on our psyches, and it becomes easy to become numb to things happening halfway around the world. But it is an important realization that each tiny organization, community, family and life in Michigan has an equally precious and beloved counterpart across the globe that is being torn apart.
As a student of history, I cannot deny the familiarity of this aggression. What started as hope for a better future in the first half of the 20th century has shown progress in weaponry more swiftly than progress in peaceful coexistence. It is painful to read the news and see the destruction of culture, of history, of the things that makes a nation who she is. As hard as it is to see that, it is equally striking to see the resilience of the Ukrainian people. The resilience of the human spirit. Buildings may be rendered rubble, but the hearts and minds of a people are not so easily broken.
III
In an hour-long Zoom conversation about the Russian attack on Ukraine with Natasha Ver, the only time she cried was when she repeated Putin’s assertion that her home country is not a nation.
“What [Putin] was telling his people — to Russians — discounting hundreds of years of history and saying Ukraine does not exist as a nation,” said Natasha, a West Michigan resident since 2010. “That was the hardest thing to hear. You know it’s not true. We know the history. We know we have a very distinct national identity. Of course we don’t take that as truth. But for someone to come out and say that, I don’t know. It’s hard to describe.”
Natasha was born and raised in Ukraine with her brother Serhii. Their father died when she was young. Her mother died from cancer as the COVID-19 virus began making its way across the globe. Serhii and their whole extended family — including Natasha’s three-week-old nephew — are still in Ukraine or recently fled from the country under siege.
A West Michigan resident since 2010, Ver made her way to the United States and Michigan for the first time as a foreign exchange student at Maple Valley High School in 2005/06 She returned to Ukraine for university, then found her way back the Grand Rapids area for graduate school. She started working for a global West-Michigan based company several years ago, and has made her home here with her husband and four-year-old son.
Natasha’s whole family and many of her friends are still in Ukraine. “The whole situation is very personal for me even though I don’t live there any more myself,” she said. “Literally an hour before the attacks started on Feb. 24…They were at the time in downtown Kyiv. His wife was literally giving birth as the rockets started flying above their heads. So they spent the first couple days as a new family, with their son, in the basement [of the hospital] . . . Unequipped, unsanitary concrete walls. They were in the basement with the rest of the families in the hospital at the time with babies being born. Hundreds of babies have been born in bomb shelters since the beginning of the war.”
She emphasized, “That’s my family. That’s not somebody ‘out there.’ That happened to my family.”
Natasha said that her Serhii, his wife and their son left Kyiv to go to their home town on the Western side of Ukraine “where there isn’t quite as much bombing and shooting and military action, but “there really is not a place that is safe on the territory of Ukraine.” She said even in their hometown of Shepetivka, there are aerial sirens multiple times a day.
While her brother and his father-in-law must remain in Ukraine as long as martial law prohibits men from leaving, Serhii’s wife, son and mother-in-law are staying in Poland in an apartment that Natasha has provided. She said she is just grateful that everyone she knows is still alive and well, and she is in constant communication with her friends and family.
Having watched the situation unfold for some time, Natasha tried to talk her brother into moving before his wife gave birth before the attacks happened.
“Up until the actual attacks started, very few Ukrainians actually believed it was going to happen,” she said. Western intelligence pointed that forces had been gathering on the border for months, but people did not believe it was going to happen. She said there are many Russian/Ukrainian families and much shared history, so the actual attacks came as a surprise.
“Logically, it made no sense. Literally everybody I talked to, that’s how they felt.”
Natasha said, “what was really eye opening is the actual speech of the Russian president before the attacks started…at the end of his speech is when the missiles started flying. Very theatrical way of starting a war, I would say.”
“You hear a lot of narrative and comparison of what Putin is doing with what Hitler was doing in World War II,” said Natasha. “I think that the mind-blowing thing about this whole war is even how much support he still has in Russia, even with what’s happening. Of course Russian people, at this point, hardly have any access to media that’s real and not propaganda. But to say this is Putin’s war and not Russians’ war against Ukraine is not true either.” She said she has seen interviews of Russians who agree with and support Putin, say he’s a smart man and that if he thinks it needs to happen, it needs to happen.
“All this propaganda-induced rhetoric, is just crazy. It’s like millions of people all of a sudden lost the ability to think critically and to think for themselves. This has been very difficult to watch and hear,” Natasha said. “[Putin] is using the power that he has with that rhetoric in much more aggressive ways.”
Donations to Ukrainian media outlets help provide journalists covering the war with PPE, tech support, relocation when necessary, and more. Donations can be made directly to media organizations in Ukraine or through collective intermediaries.
The conflict in Ukraine has struck close to home for Natasha in other ways, as well. She has had Russian friends here, but “out of a dozen Russian friends in the United States, I’ve only had two reach out. The rest have disappeared. I don’t know why. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it . . . The rest decided to take the silent approach.” She added that people she knew in Russia took the approach of, “Disappear and be quiet. Pretend nothing’s happened.”
Overall, people have been very supportive, said Natasha. She had “so many people reach out, very supportive, many who donated to my little fundraiser or other fundraising efforts I have shared.” She said her general sense is that people cannot do a lot outside of contributing to humanitarian efforts, but they have been very supportive of her.
“We can’t just watch these events unfold and pretend and think that this is going to stay within Ukrainian borders. History has shown that that’s usually not the case,” she said.
Natasha works in the global sales division for an international company that has had operations in Russia and Ukraine. It recently suspended Russian operations.
As the situation unfolds, Natasha said her biggest concerns now are about the long-term implications for Ukraine and its people.
“As I think about different scenarios, how things can unfold, I think my biggest concern is that this war turns into another Afghanistan and lasts for years and years and is an extended situation there,” she said. “My biggest worry is that this turns into a very prolonged war. Even is Russia technically overpowers the Ukrainian military and takes over the capital and government, even in that scenario, I cannot even comprehend or imagine the possibility of the Ukrainian people going along with it. It will never happen. Ukrainians will continue to resist. There will continue to be protests, armed and unarmed, forever.”
“Nobody wants a third world war, but unfortunately many of us feel that has already started anyway,” Natasha said, adding that she wishes Western countries had done more to prevent it, and wishes they were doing more now. “A little bit of a too little, too late situation.”
She added that she’s afraid the Ukrainian people will get no opportunity to live peaceful lives and rebuild their country. She said Ukraine has been receiving a lot of help, but there are still shortages of even basic supplies so it is important that people continue that support and contribute to humanitarian efforts. “Something that everybody, based on their means, can do is help support those efforts.”
But, she added, staying informed and helping inform others is also important. The best thing people can do is, “take a stand. Don’t be silent. Help other people who may not be as aware of what’s happening. Play a role in informing others if nothing else. That’s powerful as well. Sharing what’s happening. Put pressure on local government to do something . . . And I continue to encourage everyone here to not politicize everything. Being informed is such a powerful thing that many people don’t realize.” Natasha said she wishes people would listen to independent sources of information and seek out the truth instead of just listening to other people’s opinions. She said everything ends up being politicized and people should seek out and stay focused on facts.
“You know, I want to mention, my husband once said in the last few days, ‘You know, Ukraine proved to be more American than America’, and I think there is something about that. There is something about that for sure. I think Ukraine is definitely showing that Putin was very wrong when he said Ukraine as a nation does not exist or doesn’t have its own identity and we’re just all Russians. Ukrainian people have their own identity.”
In 2014 Ukraine had a pro-Russian president and government. People came out in the hundreds of thousands as he moved the country away from an application to the European Union, causing him to flee to Russia. She said freedom is an important value to Ukrainian people, while Russian people have no freedom, have no choice.
“Ukrainians are a very freedom loving people. They have a fighting spirit which is clearly shown now. And they want the freedom to decide their own fate, and that’s probably key and most important,” she said.
“They align with western values much more closely than they do with the values of our eastern brothers as they used to call us. That was a very conscious choice. The Ukrainian people found the strength to come out and oust the president that did not represent the view of the Ukrainian people. Hundreds of people died as a result of open fire by the government as the result of those protests,” said Natasha. “We do wish Russian people would find the strength to do that same now in protests and to speak out against what’s happening. I hate to think the president they have now represents the Russian people broadly. He probably does represent a portion of Russian people, but a big portion of them are afraid because they get put in jail.”
Natasha acknowledged that thousands have protested and ended up in jail because of protesting and anti-government rhetoric. “I do hope that Russian people do find the strength sooner rather than later to do what Ukrainians did and help end this. I do think Russian people are probably the ones that have the most leverage to do something about the situation, more so than sanctions or anything else.”
She also said that while it may feel harsh, she believes Russian people need the pressure of economic consequences to find the strength to speak out against what is happening. Economic pressure should help accelerate that process, she said adding that she feels bad for Russians who are suffering from speaking out. She does not feel bad for those who are staying silent and going with the flow.
“They need to be coming out in millions, not in thousands. And when that happens, there is absolutely nothing their government can do… They’re afraid and I don’t blame them for being afraid. But if they come out, if a lot of them come out, a lot more than there are now, they will be a lot stronger than the government they have.”
IV
Natasha’s story is not one of tragedy. It’s not even one that details the hardships of the war first-hand. We share it not because she needs your support; we share her story because she represents millions of individuals affected by this conflict who DO need your support. She is a name and a face that maybe you have met or seen in a grocery story. Maybe you sat next to her when she was a student at Maple Valley. Maybe you have seen her posts on Facebook and wondered what impact you could have. She’s just one, but her story matters. Every person in Ukraine right now is just one person, but their stories matter. You are just one person, and your story matters. So too do your actions at such a pivotal time in human history.
The small things we do in solidarity matter. If you find in your apathy that you can neither pray nor advocate, donate nor volunteer, hold space nor hold hands, then at the very least do this: put sunflower seeds in your pocket.
V
by Kathleen Welch, TAC Marketing and Tech Coordinator
June 25, 2022
Yesterday marked four months since the war in Ukraine began. The story told here of Natasha’s nephew, born in Kyiv as the first wave of attacks began, continues as one of a family divided — though Natasha’s sister-in-law and nephew flew to Michigan three weeks ago to stay with her, Natasha’s brother remains in Ukraine, awaiting draft orders with all the other men aged 18 to 60.
“My brother got to spend the first ten days of his son’s life with him before he had to say goodbye,” Natasha told me in a message. “And our situation isn’t even close to the worst.”
She is right to say so. Though the battle for Ukraine has been replaced by new crises in both the news and the popular consciousness, the war rages on. Four months in, tens of thousands have been killed. More than 5 million Ukrainian refugees have been scattered across Europe. Millions more have been displaced within Ukraine itself. In two occupied cities in Eastern Ukraine, Moscow has begun issuing Russian passports.
–
While he waits to be called up to fight, Natasha’s brother has returned to work in Kyiv. Things there felt relatively stable, he thought, until the day six missiles hit the area where he lives. One missile struck so close to his apartment that the force threw him out of bed.
Through it all, he speaks daily to his family half a world away. He does not know when he will see his wife and baby again, nor what his country will look like when he does.
How to Help
Support Ukrainian Culture
The Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund provides support for cultural workers who have remained in Ukraine and need support to ensure a basic standard of living and security. Administered by the Ukrainian Museum of Contemporary Art in partnership with independent media outlet Zaborona, its secondary priority is supporting cultural workers and artists in both Ukraine and those who relocated abroad after the start of the war.
UNESCO has mobilized to support cultural workers in Ukraine — including journalists, educators, and more — and to support the protection of cultural sites and works of art.
Support Ukrainian Media
Donations to Ukrainian media outlets help provide journalists covering the war with PPE, tech support, relocation when necessary, and more. Donations can be made directly to media organizations in Ukraine or through collective intermediaries.
Support Ukrainian Culture in Michigan
The Ukrainian American Archives and Museum is committed to preserving its valuable archives, collection of folk art, library, and fine art, by offering tours, lectures, concerts, exhibits, catalogs, and workshops. Foremost, it is a research and educational center on the Ukrainian immigration to Michigan and their contributions to the United States.
The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus in Livonia strives to preserve Ukrainian culture and history through its music and through music education. As ambassadors of the Ukrainian musical tradition, UBC share its story with audiences around the world.
An excellent, articulate, and well produced piece. Thank you for drawing a direct line between a tragic war an ocean away and local American communities. This kind of empathetic coverage bring us together as a human family. Thanks again.