Ukraine Rotary DG sends out plea for assistance

 

Dear colleague, Governor Larry Horton.

 

I am Vitalii Lesko, Governor of D2232, Ukraine. There is only one District in Ukraine. I am a Governor in the country where there is a war.

 

Since the first days of the war, the Rotarians of Ukraine have devoted all their time to the prevention and elimination of humanitarian crises that are constantly breaking out in different parts of Ukraine. The situation now is no better than it was at the beginning of the war. Threats and volumes of the crisis are only growing. Tens of thousands of people have already died. Millions of people were left without homes and livelihoods. Tens of millions were forced to leave their homes and flee the war.

 

In the very first days of my service as Governor, I visited all the front-line cities, all our humanitarian centers, talked with Clubs and Rotarians.

 

Kharkiv. 140 days under daily shelling, bombs, rockets, artillery, 20 km to the front line. Most of the residential buildings and infrastructure facilities were destroyed.

There are 8 Rotary Clubs in the city and a large humanitarian hub, which has also been hit by enemy missiles.

 

Zaporizhzhia. 2/3 of the territory of the region is under occupation. Hunger, violence, torture. Rotarians receive waves of refugees from the occupied territories, and under constant fire, continue their service.

 

Mykolayiv. From the first days of the war, enemy tanks broke into the city. Our army managed to free the city and throw the enemy back almost 20 km in heroic and fierce street battles. With wild anger, the enemy has been bombing peaceful residential areas with bombs and rockets for several months.