By JAMES LOGUE JR.

Special to The Press

“Ukraine you are my prayer,

“You are my age-old despair.

“A fierce battle is raging over the world,

“For your life, your rights.”

Those words by Ukrainian poet, journalist and activist of the dissident movement Vasyl Andriyovych Symonenko, were penned back in the 1960s. Yet they are just as relevant today.

Ulana Prociuk from the Ukrainian Homestead, Lehighton, shared some of her thoughts on what is happening in Ukraine.

“We do have family there, and we do have friends there, and they are mostly in the west,” Prociuk said. “They are OK. The arsenal that was hit in the west, in Kornychi, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, my family lives about 26 kilometers from there. They said they heard everything and it was like six bombs going off.”

As many people evacuate the area, Prociuk’s friends and family remain scared, but Ukranians, she added, are resilient and will continue to fight for their freedom.

“I know people who have family and friends in the capital city of Kyiv, and they are staying there to fight,” Prociuk said. “That is the spirit of the Ukrainian people. They will fight for their country, they will fight for their homeland, for their villages; that is their home; they are free, with democracy. For this to happen in this day in age, it is hard to believe.”

Prociuk said the scene the country is seeing now is similar to stories her parents told her of 1939, when tanks and airplanes were an all too common sight.

“Now we are seeing and witnessing these horrific atrocities that are happening to a country that is totally free; they didn’t do anything to anybody,” she said. “The only reason Putin is saying that Ukraine is a threat to them is because of the freedom and the democracy. He’s challenging the west; he’s challenging the democracy because he does not want that in Russia.”

Prociuk agreed this war is not what the people of Russia want any more than those in Ukraine; this is what Putin and his government leaders want.

“Some of us were talking about what happens if the Russian people start to demonstrate, and they have,” she said. “They started to; but, unfortunately, they are being imprisoned. But, they’re uprising, and they’re seeing you can live in a free world.”

Regarding Vladimir Putin, Prociuk said, “He wants his empire. He said the worst thing that happened in the 20th century was the demise of the Soviet empire. Yes, he was a KGB agent, and he was in Berlin when the Berlin Wall fell, and he didn’t know about it. I think he wants to leave a legacy behind him, that he wants that whole empire.

“If he goes through Ukraine, if he captures Kyiv; Poland, Finland, Romania; there’s no way to stop him. It has to be stopped now before it’s too late. We don’t want a World War III. But, if nobody does anything, it will be too late.”

The resilience of the Ukrainian people can be summarized in what happened on Snake Island, located in the Black Sea.

According to reports, as the Russians approached Snake Island, known also as Zmiinyi Island, a Russian officer said, “This is a military warship. This is a Russian military warship. I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”

A Ukrainian soldier responded with an expletive.

The Russian ship bombed the island, and all 13 Ukrainian defenders were captured by Russian forces and were transported to Sevastopol, the largest city on the Russian-controlled Crimea Peninsula.

They are alive and well, Ukraine’s Navy said in published reports.