The bigger picture (Day 93)
Lots of links today plus some thought on where this all goes from here.
Yesterday was one of those Catholic holidays no one really knows or cares what it means but everyone in Austria knows it means a four day weekend if you take Friday (technically a work day) off. So everything was closed and I thought I might get a bit of reprieve to take care of family stuff but no, the Ukrainians have not yet learned how seriously holidays are taken in Austria and they didn’t stop contacting me. The most invasive are the phone calls — while I’m driving, running errands, etc, and I don’t know who is on the other end of the line, how they got my number “Lyuba gave it to me…Lyuba who?”, and what they want because I cannot see any information they are just talking. I am always like “I am just one person please do not call me please just send me a text with all your info. No, I cannot tell you right this second as I make this left turn with my kids also trying to talk to me if your application on the website was successful.”
It’s a lot. And then the journalists start calling, and want me to do the heavy lifting of finding them the Ukrainian families. I have hundreds if not thousands of contacts, but I don’t have them sorted along the lines of “willing to go in front of TV cameras with 2.5 children and will lose housing if gets a job“. I totally understand the importance of the media work, and I appreciate their attention to the issues. I just don’t understand why it is so hard for many to find Ukrainians without asking the handful of volunteers like myself who speak Russian or Ukrainian. ICYMI I wrote a few days ago a list of tips for journalists who want to interview Ukrainians in Austria. So I have spent a lot of this morning trying to figure out who might want to tell their story on TV, and it is a lot easier said than done. They all tell me their stories to get a Hofer card, but in front of a camera? That’s another dimension.
Speaking of Hofer cards. I was able to put 9 cards in the post this morning. I am meeting another 9 card recipients on Sunday at the train station. I do not have those cards yet. I will buy them. And then I’m nearly empty again. Empty until more cards arrive by post or until I receive more international donations here. If anyone in Vienna wants to bring me €50 supermarket gift cards to the train station on Sunday that would be amazing. I will be there from 11am - 3pm or so, helping at the ÖBB ticket desk, here. Just ask for Tanja. Thank you. I know I sound like a stuck record and I hate soliciting donations but we have a really, really, really long waiting list. If you are in Austria and want to donate via bank transfer, payment info is here.
So today, I would like to share a bunch of links, some news, some podcasts, some media reports on what we are doing in Austria. The war seems to be taking a turn for a protracted Russian march, just as many analysts feared. The west seems divided whether to continue to offer more or less unwavering support to Ukraine, or push Zelensky into peace talks. I cannot make an informed prediction other than I see this dragging out years, not months, and in the meantime, Europe is woefully unprepared to handle the humanitarian consequences of millions of Ukrainians who cannot return home because their homes are either destroyed or in occupied territory or Russian bombs are still falling.
In no particular order:
An eye-opening listen:
Despite this, Russia is advancing:
This is a topic little is said about for obvious reasons but I think it also should not be ignored:
Chilling interview with one Russian mother who went searching for her conscript sons:
This is spooky:
As is this:
And this is a huge issue which will have impact around the globe:
Then this happened in Kharkiv yesterday, and I got a text in all caps from my pensioner pal, now in Kharkiv, who sounded absolutely terrified and is planning on coming back on Sunday and I don’t know why he is waiting so long…
And because America is always in the back of my mind, particularly when I cannot understand any of what is happening there, I must share this too:
If you understand German, some excellent Austrian radio reports today here and here on the insanity that is Austria’s “system” for managing refugees. Do click through the threads for the details (spoiler: cash payments by a local charity showing up unannounced at your door…and the government might not take any action until fall because it’s time for a holiday and civil society will step in just little Austrian things)
Finally, some have asked for links to the media reports or interviews I have given about the supermarket gift card project for Ukrainian refugees in Austria and about the plight of Ukrainians in Austria more broadly. Mario has already collected a few of them on the website, but I’ll try to make a list here. Some do have paywalls and I don’t have a solution for that — apologies. There was also a very first TV interview for ORF that I didn’t manage to save in time. Shame because two moms from the Kyiv suburbs now living in Vienna gave a great interview with their three kids.
Interview with Stephanie Krisper, Neos
Interview with Wien Heute, ORF
Warum viele Ukraine-Geflüchtete noch immer auf ihr Geld warten, Kleine Zeitung
Gutschein-fee zeigt, wie man Flüchtlingen ganz einfach hilft, Heute
Krisengipfel zu Flüchtlingsproblemen: Wo es hakt, Die Presse
Im Dickicht der Flüchtlingsbürokratie, Wiener Zeitung
“Die Lage hier ist katastrophal”, Falter
Ukraine-Vertriebene auf Lebensmittelkarten angewiesen, ZackZack
Video interview for ZackZack (in English)
Was bei der Versorgung der Ukraine-Flüchtlinge nicht klappt, Der Standard
Also if you read German, do read everything you can by Irene Brickner on asylum in Austria — she has been covering it for 20 years. This is a great piece I missed when it first came out earlier this week:
That must be more than enough for today! Tonight I have been invited to the Vienna state opera by Valentina. If you don't know the backstory about Valentina, read this. She has invited me to see Boris Godunov. I am thoroughly looking forward! I have not seen her since she arrived in Austria after she fled Kyiv. She was emotionally drained, I was super busy at the train station. I am really excited to finally see her again.