In the spring of 2020, a three-day protest against Russian “Night Wolves” bikers took place in Slovakia.
Every year, Slovaks protest against the war in the Ukrainian Donbass and hold a similar event organized by “Progressive Slovakia Coalition” and “Civil Democracy”.
This year, the organizers decided to turn the protest into something even more meaningful by helping the victims of war in eastern Ukraine through Helpua.org project implemented by their Ukrainian partner, CBN-Emmanuel organization. They launched a fundraising campaign with the slogan, “766 EUR for the victims of war for every of 766 kilometers traveled by Russian bikers in Slovakia”.
Ordinary citizens of Slovakia, who were not indifferent to the war still going on in eastern Ukraine would donate for this cause as much as they could – 1, 5, 10, 20 or 100 EUR. Thus, the protesters managed to collect 1350 EUR – the support was targeted at helping Chasiv Yar hospice for elderly disabled persons who became homeless due to the war.
CBN-Emmanuel made a contribution of its own, having donated $1700 for the same project. As a result of this partnership, 80,000 UAH were transferred to the hospice account right on time – at the very beginning of COVID-19 quarantine. Needless to say, that this contribution was especially significant, when the situation that had been already grave enough became even more dramatic due to isolation, a falling economy and a decrease in the level of donation!
CBN-Emmanuel plans to continuously support this project with regular donations of $1000 per month which will help provide food for the 32 disabled elderly persons living in the hospice.
It is widely known that the members of this motorcycle group, called the Night Wolves, helped Russian troops annex the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
Slovak President Andrej Kiska said a recently established local base for a Russian motorcycle club known for its allegiance to the Kremlin presents a security risk for Slovakia.
“The creation of the so-called European headquarters of the Night Wolves in Slovakia in the village of Dolna is also a mockery of the official position of the Government of the Slovak Republic regarding the annexation of Crimea and Russian politics”, he said.
The organizers of the protest against the Russian occupants shared, “Ukrainians have only wanted to get to where we are now – to the European Union. They paid a very high price for this desire – a war in which more than 13,000 were killed and many more wounded and additional territories occupied. At the beginning of the war, a gang of bikers called “Night Wolves” was activated, and today, like every year before, they are going to travel across Europe. They will ride around Slovakia for three days.
We could either complain or get mad but we decided to use their ride for a good cause instead. For each kilometer that they pass through Slovakia, we want to collect at least 1 Euro for the Helpua.org project to help war-affected persons in eastern Ukraine. We will meet the “Night Wolves” with European flags, and show them how much we managed to collect thanks to their trip. At the end of their journey, we will transfer the raised amount of money to “CBN-Emmanuel”.
Please, join us and show the “Night Wolves” that we can collect at least as much as possible to mitigate the effects of the war – at least an amount equal to how many kilometers they will travel throughout Slovakia this year”.
Yevhen Tkachov, the founder of the hospice in Chasiv Yar village, shared his own story:
“With the outbreak of war, my family and I took responsibility for the most vulnerable and lonely elderly persons who had been abandoned under fire at the mercy of fate. For health reasons, not one of them could get out of the captivity of his house, which could be bombed at any moment. We evacuated them with our cars and sheltered them in a house that we purchased in Chasv Yar village. With the intensification of hostilities, requests to take more elderly from the war became more frequent. We were able to expand and now we have a full-fledged hospice with several buildings, where we can host over 30 people at a time.
We are very grateful to the Slovaks and CBN-Emmanuel for such a huge financial support. This will help us provide the elderly we care for with food and essentials. This is just an invaluable support in the conditions of war and quarantine!”
We would like to thank Tomash Forro, Yakub Goda and Silvia Gudachkova for organizing this fundraising campaign in Slovakia.
You can support people in eastern Ukraine in need of food by making a donation here: https://donate.emmanuil.tv/sos_helpua_org
By Anna Chaban
