« Every day can be your last » Andryi from Dnipro wants to live and help

It sounds absurd: but Andryi overcame his depression in the middle of the war, into which he had fallen even before Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine. Today, the young gay man from Dnipro helps others and enjoys his life, as he says. Our friend and activist Iryna Hanenkova asked Andryi to tell us about his situation.

My name is Andryi, I am 22 years old and I live in Dnipro. It may sound strange, but when the war started, last year, I was in a rather “interesting” emotional state. Namely, in the state of depression.

I was grieving for a loved one who had passed away in autumn 2021. In addition, I ended a long year relationship. I moved to a new apartmen and then came this fateful date, the 24th of February 2022.

The first few days I was frozen with shock. I was quite passive, wondering what would happen next.

I soon volunteered

A few weeks passed and I decided that I finally wanted to stop sitting around and help in some way. I am not eligible for military service, so I decided to volunteer.

I have been doing this for almost a year now. You can find it all on my Instagram page @andrii_yln. We hold charitable collections for various things, like medicine, clothes, food, cars, even drones.

We have to get on with our lives now

Why do I say “we”? Because it is somehow a joint effort. My psychotherapist and a psychologist helped me a lot last summer to deal with my depression. Even with the war, I manage to live now.

Every day can be the last: In my city, you know it from the news, we experience air raids every day. Here’s a VIDEO from Berezovka where I lived in the beginning of the war.

Today, I think that despite everything, we have to continue our lives, we need to help our people, including our soldiers, as much as possible. We are building our future.

We will win and everything will be Ukraine!

This is how you can help

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups like Andriy. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

HELP FOR LGBTIQ* ORGANISATIONS To support LGBTIQ* in Ukraine we have helped set up the Alliance Queer Emergency Aid Ukraine, in which around 40 German LGBTIQ* Human Rights organisations are involved. All these groups have access to very different Human Rights organisations in Ukraine and use funds for urgently needed care or evacuation of queer people. Every donation helps and is used 100 percent to benefit queer people in Ukraine. Donate here

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

HOUSING FOR QUEER REFUGEES FROM UKRAINE LGBTIQ* often have seen discrimination in their lifes, therefore queer refugees are particularly vulnerable. Many are traumatised and now they experience re-traumatisation on the run. We want to offer them a home where they feel comfortable and can live without fear. Depending on availability, we rent two-, three-, four- or five-room flats and sublet them to people in need as shared flats. Our association does not have any funding yet, so we depend on donations. For example, we have to advance rent and deposits until the State’s job centres step in.

Donate here:
Münchner Bank eG
IBAN DE16 7019 0000 0003 1425 66
Munich Queer Homes e.V.