Dear Friends,

As the Russian missiles attack Kyiv, and fighting is going on all around my beloved 1,500-year-old city, I would like to thank you for the outpouring support and offering help!

Ukraine today is the battlefront for the global fight between good and evil, and Ukraine must withstand this horrible attack for the sake of everyone in the Free World.  If Ukraine is not saved today, with the immediate collective effort of each and every one of us and our governments, the evil will come to our homes, wherever they are.  This is what experience with Hitler’s appeasement, and so far with Putin’s appeasement, has taught us.  What is urgent is to strengthen those who fight and protect the Free World!

Ukraine fights fiercely, every hour and every minute.  Ukrainian warriors and ordinary citizens demonstrate unparalleled heroism and dignity.  There are long lines of people to join Civic Defense, to donate blood, to be useful in any way.  All Ukrainian key leaders are in Kyiv today. Courageous President Zelensky is addressing Ukrainians and the world twice a day.

Former President Petro Poroshenko has spoken to CNN, surrounded by other MPs – holding machine guns because they all joined the Civic Defense.  The Ukrainian army is inflicting huge damage on the aggressor, which is attacking from all directions and flooding Ukraine with warplanes, tanks, and soldiers. Ukrainians are standing their ground, and are ready to sacrifice their lives to  defend their beloved homeland.

Russians are committing unspeakable atrocities, shelling Ukraine residential areas, hospitals and kindergartens.  This is a full-scale war, and these are war crimes against humanity. This is a test for the Free World, and if Ukraine is allowed to fall, it will bring catastrophic consequences. Putin already threatens many countries in the region, most of them members of EU and NATO, and also the neutral ones - Finland and Sweden.

Ukraine is a peaceful, democratic and beautiful country in the heart of Europe. It is open and tolerant, embracing all of its citizens of numerous ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs.  Ukraine has been an integral part of Europe since it was founded as Kyivan Rus more than a thousand years ago.

The Pylyp Orlyk Constitution of free Kozaks adopted 300 years ago was the first democratic constitution of Europe. Although Ukraine was occupied by colonial Evil Empire for almost three centuries, Ukrainians never gave up their identity, culture, and language.

Ukraine has been newly independent for 30 years, joining the Free World, building a liberal democracy and market economy. The USSR was dissolved at the initiative of the Russian Federation, accompanied by its binding international-law obligations to respect the borders of newly created states, including Ukraine.  No promises whatsoever were made to the Russian Federation or anyone else of Ukraine’s not joining EU or NATO.

At that time, Ukraine had the third largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world, which was the single solid guarantee of its security, but the US and UK, in the interest of nuclear non-proliferation, spearheaded the effort to take that nuclear arsenal away in exchange for guarantees of Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders.

The Budapest Memorandum was signed with reciprocal binding obligations of all parties. Ukraine has complied with its obligations, and now it is time for the West to do the same, and let its public know that it has legal and moral obligations to defend Ukraine.

How can you help?  Please urge your governments to take immediate and decisive actions that will have a real impact on the aggressor:

  • Enforce no-fly zone over Ukraine! This was done by the West on several occasions in the recent history, but none of them were as crucial as now.
  • Provide immediate military and financial assistance to Ukraine.
  • Cut off Russia from SWIFT and impose much more severe sanctions.
  • Isolate Russia economically and culturally, stop all flights in and out, stop issuing visas, and cancel existing visas. They must understand that the pain and suffering they inflict on innocent people have consequences for every one of them.
  • Disable Russia’s disinformation machine – block all their propaganda tools, do not trust a word coming from them.  There is no free press in Russia – block Russia Today, RT, TASS, RT-documentary, all of their media.  Boycott their influencers.
  • Eliminate from your media, social media, and discussions so called "Putinfersteers", the Western “experts” who have been corrupted by Kremlin’s money and favors. One example is ex-Chancellor of Germany, Schröder, who is enjoying his blood money from Rosneft.
  • Expel Russia from the UN Security Council

Finally, and very importantly – there is a huge humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine. In the middle of winter civilians are spending days and nights in the bomb shelters. While Ukrainian men are returning home from abroad to fight, tens of thousands of women, children and elderly are trying to flee through the borders of our friendly neighbors to the West, waiting in lines for days.

We are forever grateful to our Polish, Romanian and other friends for accepting Ukrainian war refugees and doing their absolute best to help them settle, but where are the international humanitarian organizations with their big budgets and big bureaucracies?

Nobody is there, there are no humanitarian corridors, no airlifting, no tents, no nothing!   We have seen so many times on TV how the refugees were being helped all over the world, but why Ukraine is now left out?  Please appeal to any contacts you might have and urge them come to Ukraine and do their job!

Many of you are asking me how to donate.  Thank you for your help, there are many volunteer organizations that undertake tremendous efforts to help Ukraine, here are my most trusted ones:

“Razom” (“together” in Ukrainian) – A Ukrainian-American volunteer organization, my daughter Nonna is a member of: https://linktr.ee/RazomForUkraine They do an important humanitarian work and list other trusted organizations.

If you prefer to donate directly to Ukrainian organizations, the most active and trusted ones are “Come Back Alive” https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/ and “Army SOS” https://armysos.com.ua/en/

“Ukrainian Institute in London” https://ukrainianinstitute.org.uk/russias-war-against-ukraine-what-can-you-do-to-support-ukraine-ukrainians/ They also have a list of trusted organizations.

Today, history is made, and it is our choice to be on the right side of it.  Please act now, let’s join forces to Save Ukraine, Europe, and the Free World!

Sincerely,
Irina

Dr. Irina Paliashvili
President and Senior Counsel

RULG - Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A. www.rulg.com
Member, U.S.-Ukraine Busines Council (USUBC) Executive Committee
Chair of the Legal Committee, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC)
Co-Chair of the IBA Senior Lawyers Committee

P.S...If you would like to write to Irina Paliashvili send your email to usubc@usubc
and your message will be forwarded to her.