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Mar. 19—When Russian President Vladimir Putin despatched troopers into Ukraine late final month, Vlada Galan was in her lodge room in Colombia, South America, the place she was engaged on an election marketing campaign as a world political marketing consultant.
Born in Odesa, Ukraine, Galan moved to first California after which Collegedale, Tennessee, at age 8 together with her mom Anjelika Riano, after her dad and mom divorced.
Lately, the 2008 Dalton Excessive Faculty graduate splits time between her house in Roswell, Georgia, and Odesa whereas touring the world as a lobbyist for governments and politicians.
In late February, she was caught in a lodge in Colombia.
“I felt totally ineffective,” she mentioned, including that she works with the Ukrainian authorities. “I bought an e-mail that mentioned ‘Do not come again.'”
Not one to sit down and do nothing, Galan mentioned she informed her fiance she was going to fly again to Ukraine and placed on a vest, seize a gun and be part of the preventing. After he calmed her down, she determined as an alternative to make use of her experience and contacts each in and out of doors of Ukraine and she or he began the Worldwide Ukrainian Disaster Fund to assemble donations and provides for her native nation.
On the board of administrators are former U.S. Ambassador Ned Siegel; former Congressman Toby Moffett, Wladimir Klitschko, a former world heavyweight champion boxer and the brother of Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko; former Sen. David Vitter and former Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Galan mentioned it took her about 24 hours and a whole lot of cellphone calls to make it occur, however inside 24 hours cash was flowing in and reduction support was going into Ukraine.
“Between crying, I used to be asking folks to assist. Now. Not later,” she mentioned.
Kyiv Mayor Klitschko supplied an impassioned plea for the help, asking folks to provide to the disaster fund.
“Our residents desperately want your assist,” he mentioned within the video. “They want meals, medication and different primary gadgets.”
Galan is presently president and chairman of the fund and her mom, an knowledgeable on immigrant and refugee schooling and an worker with Hamilton County Division of Training, is a part of the workforce, as properly.
“I am prepared to assist right here with any schooling wants when Ukrainian immigrants begin coming to this nation,” Riano mentioned in a phone interview.
She mentioned she and her daughter left the Ukraine “with 25 cents in my pocket.”
“[Galan] grew up in Chattanooga and this group invested so much in us. We love Chattanooga,” Riano mentioned.
Different key gamers are her fiance, George Birnbaum and Nadya Hnatiuk, who helps coordinate buying provides in Poland and transport them into Ukraine, the place they’re distributed by Roma Orlov.
Galan mentioned organizations should have correct credentials to maneuver items and cash into Ukraine and that 100% of what the teams gathers goes on to the folks in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Galan nonetheless was in Colombia working the telephones, together with doing an early morning Zoom interview with the Instances Free Press.
“I’ve already referred to as a number of folks and simply mentioned, ‘Are you OK?’ after which on to the following one,'” she mentioned.
Galan’s father is presently preventing in Odesa, Ukraine, and her 18-year-old brother lives in Lviv, Ukraine. Different members of the family reside in america.
“I’m a political marketing consultant and work for a corporation referred to as Actum,” she mentioned. “I’ve labored with Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko for just a few years. When the struggle broke out, I began a nonprofit registered in Washington, D.C. I partnered with Mayor Klitschko’s fund in Kyiv and different mayors to convey humanitarian support into the nation.”
She mentioned what is occurring in Ukraine is troublesome to look at however sadly not laborious to elucidate.
“Everyone seems for a sophisticated reply, and it’s actually easy. Each era has a Hitler, and now it’s Putin,” she mentioned.
Galan mentioned she truly had a whole lot of respect for him just a few years in the past as a result of he was capable of unite and maintain pleased a number of very totally different teams of individuals in an enormous nation
“However now he has overstayed his welcome. And, he will not cease at Ukraine. He felt emboldened and nonetheless feels that approach,” she mentioned.
Galan mentioned she believes Putin views the Ukrainian folks as “khokhol,” a derogatory slur that paints Ukrainians as easy and unsophisticated, and even “redneck,” to make use of an American time period. She mentioned the truth is that within the final 15 or 20 years, the residents have labored laborious to rebuild their nation and plan to maintain it.
“The Klitschko brothers got here again,” she mentioned. “I, who left at age 8, got here again. In reality, I simply put down a deposit on a brand new place to reside per week earlier than the preventing began.”
She mentioned a number of elements have led to the state of affairs, together with the human want to “imagine what they need to imagine” and Russia’s talent at propaganda and false info. She factors to Crimea in Ukraine for instance.
When Russia “invaded” it virtually a decade in the past, Galan mentioned the Russian authorities despatched in a number of cash to affect folks, and the residents there did not need to lose their lives, or their houses, so Russian troopers, a few of whom have been wearing Ukrainian uniforms, merely walked in and took over.
“Crimea is why he thought this invasion would go the best way he needed,” Galan mentioned. “When he got here in, folks have been like, ‘Simply do not damage us.'”
She mentioned she believes Putin thought he would discover a comparable response to his newest actions, however the Ukrainian folks have fought again.
She is adamant that they are going to proceed to take action.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Observe him on Twitter @BarryJC.
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