S5E9 - Veronika Didusenko
This week’s guest is Veronika Didusenko, former Miss Ukraine. She was stripped of the title for also being a mother and is an activist for the #righttobeamother campaign. But, she is on More Than Work now to talk about the Russian war on Ukraine.
Veronika is one of 2 million people who has fled Ukraine. She left with her son. She talks about the experience of leaving, the people who are still at home and what we can do to help.
We spoke after she held a press conference in Los Angeles with Gloria Allred asking the US to take more action including issuing emergency Visas and status to those fleeing Ukraine. She could not bring her son with her to the United States because he did not have a Visa.
Actions to take:
If you know of Ukrainian refugees, help them by providing housing, clothing, food and anything else they may need. They left their homes with very little and don’t know that they will see them again.
Contact your government representatives and ask that US (or UK) immigration laws be adjusted to allow Ukrainian refugees of war to enter the country. Families should not be separated and people need to find the help they need.
Contact your representatives and encourage them to continue to send weapons, munitions, food, etc to Ukraine.
Note from Rabiah (Host):
I wanted to talk to Veronika under different circumstances. She is an extraordinary woman. We will do so in the future. For now, it is important her voice and the voice of other Ukrainians is heard. One part of the conversation that we didn’t get in the recording was her recounting that a child died of dehydration while in shelter in Ukraine because there was no water. This is a humanitarian crisis. It is a tragedy. It is war. Thank you for listening.
Rabiah and Veronika meet from London and Los Angeles. It is 11pm GMT and 3pm PST. Veronika just ended a press conference appealing to President Biden for help for Ukrainian refugees trying to enter the U.S.
Find Veronika
Mentioned on the episode
The call to action is to help people in need and to contact government officials.
Resources to Support Ukraine
Transcript
[00:04:13]
Rabiah (Host): Hello. I am going to let you know right now, this is a different episode than usual. The guest is someone from Ukraine who has escaped what's been going on there. She is Veronica Didusenko and she really has run for her life at this point.
And she's right now taking time away from her normal career to be an advocate and activist for her country, for the sovereignty of her country, for the people there to save lives. To save lives of people, fleeing and to save lives of people there. And so if anything is more than work, certainly your country being at war is more than work.
I hadn't encountered today with someone, my house cleaner, who I've known for months who arrived at my home. I asked her how her family was because they live in one of the countries that's taking in refugees. And she told [00:05:13] me that they have helped people, but she also is aligned with Putin. The conversation went on.
I won't get into too many details, but I asked her several times to please stop talking about this, that we didn't agree and that I just really didn't appreciate it in my home. And eventually I asked her to leave and I just didn't get my house cleaned and I also just rejected her service and I've never done something like that.
I've been, she's actually came with anti-vax views and other controversial COVID views in my opinion before, but I had always tried to respect her as a person and she was always nice otherwise, and I just couldn't do it. I just, I don't find there to be any negotiation around what's going on right now in Ukraine.
I'm really grateful that Veronika took the time to talk to me and she just wanted to share and wants to make sure people know how they can help and she shared her story of leaving. The sound might be a little bit bad at places. We had some trouble with the recording because of where she was located and that's just to be expected at this point. I think it will be fine, [00:06:13] but just so you know, the conversation may seem a little bit choppy here and there because of that. I really appreciate you listening. I will have a regular episode out next week. We didn't go through the fun five or do any of the faff because this is really just about what she's doing now being an activist and advocate for her people. So I hope that you will share this episode. I think it's important people hear it and that you will find an action you can take coming out of it. This is dedicated to the people of Ukraine and the fight they're doing for their democracy
and for people's lives. A lot of lives have been lost already, and a lot of people have been hurt. So thank you for listening.
This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth is made up of more than your job title. Each week, I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves. You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing and who they are. I'm your host, Rabiah. I work in [00:07:13] IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer and of course podcast. Thank you for listening.
Hi everyone. So I'm gonna make this quick at the start. My guest is someone that I went to school with, in the Harvard Kennedy Public Leadership Credential program. And we're reuniting now. Her name is Veronika Didusenko. She was Miss Ukraine in 2018. She's since then become an activist for the right to be a mother campaign.
And now as she's from Ukraine, everyone knows what's going on and so she's talking with me today. Um, Hey Veronica, it's good to see you.
Veronika Didusenko: Hi. Hi. Good to see you too.
Rabiah (Host): So Veronika, where am I talking to you from right now?
Veronika Didusenko: So I'm in Los Angeles. I just had the press conference with Gloria Allred about the situation in Ukraine. About the invasion of Russia to Ukraine. And, uh, how women and children are suffering when they're leaving and about the [00:08:13] policies which U.S. should apply to make, maybe some kind of, visa, some kind of statuses for, for mother and kids to be able to enter United States.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. And you actually got to LA in the past week, cause you were in Ukraine when the attacks started, right?
Veronika Didusenko: Yeah. So when the invasion started, it was 24th of February. It was 5:00 AM. I, yeah, I just packed my bags and there was waiting, by the sirens, of the rockets. So literally like the Russians started bombing Kiev.
And, yeah, I took myself, my son, my cats and I took my car and I just drove to the Western border of Ukraine, trying to escape it.
So, uh, when we were leaving, we saw like Russian helicopters, literally 15 Russian helicopters, which you are flying to bomb the airfield. It was the long journey, was like [00:09:13] big traffic jams in the way to border. We drove like, 11 hours, like 200 kilometers. It was the whole day and went to one of the cities which is a little bit more Western from the capital city where I am living..
Then we had some nights here and then we went to the border with Moldova.
We crossed the border in Moldova but Moldova also has, they have a closed air we don't have any flights because they're afraid of the war. And I had to go to Romania, and we took flight from Romania to Luxembourg to see some of my friends, that they can help us. They host us.
And then I figured out they have to go to, I had to go to the press conference in Los Angeles, but, um, yeah, U.S. Embassy didn't issue visa for Alex. So, and I'm so right now I'm I really want to like President Biden [00:10:13] and US government to do special, like no policies and special conditions so that, uh, Ukrainians can, can cross a United States border and can have you know, some kind of status over there because it is so important for millions of people who are trying to escape more in the moment. And I had to leave my son. I had to leave my son in Switzerland with um my friends, which he basically knows so it is good, but, you know, still the thing is I can't, I couldn't take him with me.
Rabiah (Host): So right now you're without your son, because he couldn't get in to the country, basically.
Veronika Didusenko: Yes. So I haven't yet basically for like few days. And then in the end of the week, I'm going to be back to Switzerland to get my son.
Rabiah (Host): But it's, it's just interesting to me because I, I know everyone's talking about this, of course.
And everyone's talking about in Europe, all the people are refugees, but in the U S we have a bad track [00:11:13] record with refugees anyway, obviously, but the fact is now this is something that I think people do need to support. And so at your press conference, you're basically, what do you want people to do? I guess like people who might be listening who want to do something and they're donating money, but they want to do something else.
What do you want them to do?
Veronika Didusenko: Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. Is it donate money to the Ukranian military forces it is so good. If they can help the humanitarian resources. I don't know, some, clothes, food, supplies. Uh, it's going to be so good for Ukrainians who are braving this war. If you have, if you can host a person from Ukraine, because she could be like, the mother of his kids, they have no home.
They have no money. They have nothing. So, if you can tell them somehow or I don't know, take care of them, it just be wonderful. Really good. Of course from government, like Ukraine needs like ammunition, weapons, really need, uh, NATO to close the skies.
So it's not so [00:12:13] many civilians are dying in this war. Because since the beginning of the war around like 3000 Ukrainians civilians include is like a a hundred kids have died. Can you imagine? 3000 innocent people. Like and 800 kids were injured from the bombing and from the shooting. 800 kids. All of the hospitals, all of the schools, all of the universities, museums, everything was destroyed.
And now people are just living in their shelters. And some of the cities they have, um, now like no food and no water in the shelter. So, today a child died, uh, because of dehydration. Can you imagine while a while he was in shelter. Can you imagine this is the 21st century?
This [00:13:13] Russian invasion is so violent. They don't even fear about people's lives. They don't agree on the like, um, green corridors and humanitarian corridors, that uh, people could leave occupied cities.
Rabiah (Host): So Veronika, as far as just how your family's doing and just being away, , how is that and how are you keeping in touch with them or are you even able to?
Veronika Didusenko: Yeah, so I, I am able, but you know, when they are in shelter, there is no signal.
So they cannot really reply. And when it's siren, they need to go to shelters. So it is, it is tricky, you know, I really I'm really afraid for their lives because it's a big threat for their lives. No one knows what can happen. And so if the bomb going to explode near their house. But my mom and my dad, my grandmothers, they don't want to leave Ukraine.
So generally say like, it's like, uh, [00:14:13] 2 million people left Ukraine. It's mostly the kids with parents. But other like almost 38 million, they stayed. They stayed in Ukraine to free to protect their land, protect their freedom and dignity. To protect the democracy of Ukraine. So people, people are a very brave and United at the moment there.
And my mother said she was going to go to volunteer in the hospital. So, yeah. Yeah. But, um, it is a big risk, a huge risk, enormous rates. And as I say, like every day I get messages, like someone died that is someone's friends or it's all the time. Devastating.
Rabiah (Host): It is. And it's just, and you've been, you've been someone who's been active as an activist for a while now, but this is such a different thing than what you've been doing, really.
Veronika Didusenko: Yeah. I never thought I would go through the [00:15:13] war, you know? Like in 2022, like such a, such a terror is happening. To the largest European country. To the democratic country. .
It's actually like terror is happening. You know, it's, it's unbelievable. It's really unbelievable. But you know, Putin may not stop like with Ukraine. The next to the next contract can be like Moldova or Poland or Romania.
So it's just it's not quite sure if it's gonna ever stop. So now we need the whole, world's united. The European Union, the United Kingdom, United States, to show support to the Ukraine, to send weapons, munition to, you know, to be very supportive to the Ukraine and resist and we can win in this war. Cause Ukrainians are dying for their democracy, for their freedom, their lives. Uh, to, to have independent, Democratic country, you know. I think it's like, it's huge. .
Rabiah (Host): And so I [00:16:13] guess, so for people who are listening to take away, I mean, it's good to donate to the army or to the Ukrainian armed forces.
And then should we, should we be contacting our government and asking them. To let people in. I think that UK is probably so much of the U S to where I am at, where it's not easy for people to get in..
Veronika Didusenko: Yes. It's not easy. It's definitely. Contact the government. As soon as they have like lots of requests, they respond sooner, but you know, it's still, they are doing this work, but it's slow.
So the station right now is, is urgent. It is important. And, actions must be taken now, you know. Because refugees from Ukraine, they cannot be, maybe they have some relatives in there in the United States and they cannot enter. Can you imagine? So they have nowhere to live. They have no one to take care of them, but, and what is more, those refugees are only women and children.
So women and [00:17:13] children, and they have no phones, no money, no protection, nothing. And they cannot even enter all your countries. Maybe they have, uh, with my, my, one of my best friends from here, she's pregnant now. And, she, she has her Visa expired and she has son, so she's pregnant with her second child and she has nowhere to go, because she cannot enter U.S. because of the visa where her grandparents live. and she's like the homeless, you know, and she stayed in the war in Ukraine. Can you imagine? So how, how U S. and UK ignore such a big issue? It's a question of like, to discuss, like at the moment and now it's, it's urgent.
As the European union did so, the UK and US must
Rabiah (Host): act..
Yeah. And it's, it's something that they're capable of doing. And if you have relatives already, then why can't you go?
Veronika Didusenko: Yeah, exactly. [00:18:13] Exactly. Exactly. Because people are like more, and of course they are escaping from the war and like, there are people who are a happy to host them, but can you imagine if, if they don't have that, if like what they should do, they should live on streets? I dunno.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Well, and the fact is like the people leaving their homes, they don't know what they'll go back to. You don't know. Yeah.
Veronika Didusenko: You never, you don't. Yes, exactly. So you don't know if you're going to be back, when you're going to be back and what is more, what they have with them; their documents, maybe some little bit of cash and like, it just, it just, that's it. They don't have like too much clothes.
Nothing, nothing of that. They were escaping the war , just a few days, yeah just a few days ago,. I came to the U.S. and I ask a person for a toothbrush or something. They said, "oh really? You don't have your toothbrush on you. But [00:19:13] we know when people are traveling, they have their toothbrushes."
I was escaping from the war, the bombs. Are you serious?
They are thinking of being alive and to save their lives. To save the life of their children. And to put them in a safe place. If you see someone or know someone who needs help, to do so, because it's in such a tough time.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible.
So, Veronika, is there anything else that you want to say before we wrap up and just that you want people to know about?
Veronika Didusenko: You can help with the people who are trying to escape and save their lives.
So with clothes or maybe you can host them or take care of them. people are struggling. And they have really tough time. I [00:20:13] dunno if you can maybe some clothes, bring some food. And, uh, if it would be very helpful for all of the refugees.
Rabiah (Host): Okay, well, that's good.
Veronika Didusenko: And of course Visas. Visas for entering the uK and United states .
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, I agree. And so this is really helpful to know, and it will be helpful for people to hear. So, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me today and we'll do an interview about your, you know, everything else eventually, um, you know, and what you, and what you do otherwise. But thanks so much.
Veronika Didusenko: Thank you so much. It was good to see you.
Rabiah (Host): You too.
Thanks for listening. You can learn more about the guests and what was talked about in the show notes. Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to. You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A. Rob Metke does all the design for which we are so grateful. You can find him online by searching Rob M E T K E.
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