Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya@Tsihanouskaya
Here is a wonderful story of solidarity reported by @nashaniva. When more than a hundred Belarusian political prisoners were released and deported to 🇺🇦 last week, they were met with incredible warmth.
A young woman named Maria went to Chernihiv to help however she could ...
The first need was simple and vital: phones. So people could call their families. Hear familiar voices. Read the news. Feel human again.
Dozens of Ukrainians stepped in. Phones were brought one by one. Power banks too — because Russia’s missiles mean electricity is never guaranteed. A Kyiv electronics store stayed open for hours, helping solve the impossible.
Then another challenge emerged.
At 8 p.m., permission was finally granted to give food to the former prisoners before their long journey to the EU. Departure was at dawn.
109 people. One night. Wartime.
Maria started calling every café in Chernihiv. Who would take this on, so late, under curfew?
One place said yes.
Café “Project.”
They hesitated because supplies were low, and time was short. Then they heard who the food was for: people brought out of Belarusian prisons.
And they decided: we will do it.
They rushed to buy groceries before curfew. Cooked all night. Not sandwiches, but real food: buckwheat, cutlets, salads, fruit.
They chopped vegetables, shaped cutlets, played music, worked until 6 a.m., and delivered everything on time.
This is Ukraine.
A country under attack. Yet still feeding the freed.
Thank you to every Ukrainian who turned solidarity into action.
You did not just feed people. You reminded Belarusians what freedom and resilience feel like.
nashaniva.com/ru/383850
