‘A scary dream’ a year after the Russian invasion
Norwalk artist hosts third event to benefit her native Ukraine
NORWALK — In the year since Ukraine was invaded by Russian forces, Norwalk resident Oksana Tanasiv, along with her friends, has raised more than $10,000 to help her native country.
On Saturday, the contemporary artist will host another event to raise money to support relief and military efforts in war-torn Ukraine.
After war broke out last year, Tanasiv hosted two events at her gallery on South Main Street in Norwalk, partnering with other Ukrainian artists in Connecticut and New York.
The events brought in a total of about $10,000, which went to a medical university in Ukraine and a volunteer organization in her hometown in western Ukraine, she said.
Proceeds from Saturday’s event will once again be used to help Ukraine, with a goal of purchasing an off-road vehicle for a military battalion in the Bakhmut sector, along with medical supplies and tourniquets, Tanasiv said.
Tanasiv was contacted by the mother of two men fighting for Ukraine, asking if she would be willing to raise money to replace the battalion’s vehicle.
“The mother of two military sons, they are fighting, and their car was destroyed by Russian missiles. They need another car to move injured soldiers from the field,” Tanasiv said. “She reached out directly through messenger on Facebook, saying, ‘I do love your art but today I have different reason to contact you’.”
The group needs $5,000 for the new vehicle, with $3,000 already gathered, the mother said.
“I sent $450 of my personal money and $250 from two friends who donated,” Tanasiv said.
A native of western Ukraine, Tanasiv moved to the U.S. in 2004 at the age of 26 with her daughter. However, the rest of her family remains in her homeland.
“My family is on the west of Ukraine, but my friends are in bigger cities,” Tanasiv said. “My family is in smaller towns, which are more safe, less dangerous, but they are constantly under attack.”
Russian missiles fly so low over her hometown that Tanasiv’s parents tell her they see them overhead. Systems to detect and destroy missiles are unable to locate the Russian missiles so low to the ground, she said.
“It’s information I hear fro mm y parents. The infrastructures, like electrical stations and factories, civilian objects, are targets for the missiles and destroyed on western front,” Tanasiv said. “My family is OK, they are in smaller town that doesn’t have important infrastructure and military objects, but you never know.”
However, many of Tanasiv’s friends still reside in the country’s capital of Kyiv, which has become a center of the warfare.
“I live a scary dream of what’s going on in Ukraine,” she said. “Many I know are on the front lines and many are in danger of being attacked every day, including close friends in Kyiv.”
With Saturday’s event, Tanasiv is hoping to raise the remaining $1,300 for the rescue vehicle and more, including money to buy medical supplies, to be delivered to the front lines.
Tanasiv said she had known for years leading up to the war that tensions were running high between Ukraine and Russia, but she did not anticipate the violence of the ongoing battles in the past year.
“There were attacks on eastern Ukraine since 2014, but I didn’t know it was going to be such a full, massive invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” she said. “I didn’t know how long it will continue. Of course, I expected it’d be over soon. We don’t know now how long, another year or month, but I’m definitely ready to help as much as I can and make every possible effort.”
The event will run from6 to 9 p. m. Saturday, taking place one day after the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Tickets are $25 per person. The event will be held at the Oksana Tanasiv Gallery at 70d S. Main St., Norwalk.
The highlights will include a performance by Ukrainian musician Iryna Lonchyna, and by author and performer Lubomyr Chermak, according to the event details.
Non-Ukrainian artists will also be featured at the gallery event, including American artist/photographer Julie DiBiase; Uzbekistan native, photographer and art restorer Shavkat Ino; and fellow Ukrainian artist Oksana Rudenko.
A watercolor artist, Rudenko recently escaped from Ukraine and gained refugee status in Germany, according to the page.