NEW ORLEANS — Ukrainians and their supporters still have hope that the country will take back its territory. Two years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though, international help has dwindled, tens of thousands are dead, and an end to the war does not seem to be in sight.
War broke out between Russia and Ukraine in 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea. But it wasn’t until February 24, 2022, that the Kremlin’s ambitions came into full focus. More than 100,000 Russian soldiers poured into Ukraine, a blitz that ended with thousands of civilians dead and towns firmly in Russia’s control. Vladimir Putin made it clear, from the beginning, that his goal was a complete takeover of Ukraine.
Slidell artist Oksana Fogg first appeared on WWL Louisiana shortly after the invasion. She had just started selling her paintings and sending the money to family members in her native Ukraine.
Two years later, she is still doing it. “Some of my family members only can exist because I do help them,” she said Saturday, “because other than that they have no possibility to get any means to survive.”
She also still worries daily about her family members, some of whom were in Russian-occupied territory at the beginning of the war and have since been freed. “It’s in your mind all the time, it doesn’t go away,” she said.
The past two years have also brought devastating losses to her family. Her mother was injured running from a bombing and was not able to recover due to a lack of medical care and the stress of the war. She passed away late last year.
The conflict has not wavered, either. Just this week CBS reported a child was killed in a drone attack on Odessa. That came on the heels of the fall of the city of Avdiivka, Ukraine’s worst military loss in months.
One thing that has changed in the past two years is the international community’s feelings toward the war. The U.S. and other Ukrainian allies spent billions in aid early in the war. But it has since dried up, either part of aid packages stalled in Congress or not even considered in the first place.
Advocates say a slowdown in U.S. military aid is at least partly responsible for Ukraine’s losing ground. “This aid was not just military aid, it was huge psychological aid,” said Denys Bondar, an Associate Professor at Tulane and CEO of nonprofit Kryla, which aids Ukrainian refugees. “If Russians are able to fire up 10,000 shells per day and Ukraine has 1,000 shells, you don’t have to be a military expert to see where this is gonna end.”
The beginning of the war also rallied people around the world to Ukraine’s cause. Ukrainian flags were everywhere and marches were held regularly in New Orleans.
Now, that enthusiasm has largely faded, something Oksana says is an existential threat not just to Ukraine, but the world. “They need help now, very much. All the world should support Ukraine as much as possible because Ukraine is doing their job protecting democracy.”
Oksana’s art will be featured for sale at the Arabi gallery Art Conscious in May and June this year.
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