Supporting Ukraine from the Ship: Ukraine Peace Action and the Charity Auction

The words Peace for Ukraine shone brightly against the white background of the large banner, fluttering in the wind on the deck of Peace Boat on June 15, 2024. This day was chosen as the day of the Ukraine Banner Action on Peace Boat’s 117th Global Voyage because it was also the day when the Summit on Peace in Ukraine was held in Switzerland, attended by approximately 90 countries.

The Ukraine Youth Ambassadors prepared and created the banner themselves, while the messages on the banner and on the screen were designed by Youth Ambassador Tetiana Vazhynska. The blue, white and yellow words Stop War in Ukraine glimmered on the screen overlooking the blue, shimmering ocean.

Around 400 participants gathered on the deck to take a group photo with the banner, showing their support for the people of Ukraine, while participants also lined up to have their individual photos taken holding smaller posters with peace slogans. Their photos and video footage were compiled and edited into a short movie by Youth Ambassador Sofiia Demydenko, which was shown on the screen on the deck as Peace Boat sailed into the port of New York the next morning.

On “Peace and Earth Day”, nearly a hundred events were held on board, ranging from nuclear disarmament and renewable energy to Hiroshima, climate justice and peace for Ukraine. Following two events related to support for the people of Ukraine held by the Youth Ambassadors in the afternoon, the day culminated in the Ukraine Charity Auction in the evening. The UYA wanted particularly to draw attention to what is happening to animals and pets in wartime Ukraine.

“Many people evacuated from Ukraine in the first days of the war believing that they would return in a couple of days. However, their lives in evacuation turned out, not to be weeks, but even years. Countless pets, that’s cats, dogs, etc., remained locked up in apartments and houses, unable to escape,” explained Antonina Korotenko. “After the invasion, when I worked as a volunteer to help people in de-occupied towns and villages in the Kyiv region, one of the things I did was to try to get pets out of locked residences. If that was impossible, I delivered food to imprisoned pets by, for example, throwing food over fences into the yard,” she continued.

“Not only abandoned pets, but pets with owners are suffering, too,” added Tetiana Vazhynska. “One instance would be our family dog. My parents and I used to have a cute little dog. We loved her very much. After the invasion started, my parents evacuated from Kharkiv to a village with our dog. There was nothing wrong with our dog in terms of health, but due to the sudden change and stress from the sound of constant bombing, our dog passed away after a month. My parents were devastated - the death of our dog was the reason that pushed them to decide to evacuate all the way to Japan,” Tetiana said sadly.

A similar story was told by Sofiia Demydenko: “A lot of people living in our apartment building in Kharkiv evacuated and left their pets behind. They asked my parents to look after their pets. One of our neighbors had a guinea pig. We took care of it and I knitted a sweater for it out of woolen socks. After a few weeks, though, the guinea pig died. It couldn’t survive without its owner; the sound of bombs and missiles was too much for the little guinea pig.”

Pets are not the only living creatures, aside from human beings, who have become victims of the invasion by the Russian military. Farm animals and wildlife are also being killed: “Please look at this photo - chickens and cattle have been massacred by the Russian army and lie in a heap on an occupied farm,” indicated Antonina. “Also, animals at the Kharkiv Zoo have been shot by Russian soldiers. At the Askania-Nova National Park, a biosphere reserve in Kherson Oblast, protected wildlife has been massacred. This ecocide (the genocide of flora and fauna) is driving some endemic species to the brink of extinction. Ukraine is the first government in history to sue the government of another country of crimes against the environment,” she continued. The Youth Ambassadors then talked about the enormous devastation to animals and nature caused by the flood from the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam by the Russian military in June, 2023. In this man-made catastrophe, a huge number of people had to flee by swimming across the deluge, leaving behind homeless and helpless animals.

Youth Ambassador Natalia Makohon elaborated further on the Kakhovka Dam incident in the event Why the World Should Support Ukraine, which she and Yuliia Chekhovska jointly organised on the same day. “One of my friends was living in Kherson Oblast, which was flooded by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam,” she said. “One day, she and her grandparents woke up underwater. They swam up and spent two days on the roof of their house, which was submerged in water. Later, they were evacuated in rescue boats. My friend’s grandparents had to dive underwater to retrieve their passports from a safe in the house, now under the water. Young people can start life anew in a new place - but what about her grandparents, who have built up their entire lives in this place? For elderly folks, starting new lives from zero is difficult, next to impossible,” said Natalia.

Throughout Peace and Earth Day, the Youth Ambassadors organized various events to collect donations for Ukraine humanitarian support. Tetiana Vazhynska digitally drew handmade postcards featuring Ukrainian landscapes and Sofiia Demydenko printed photos she had taken in ports of call on postcards. These art pieces were handed out to participants who generously donated more than 5000 JPY.

Towards the end of the voyage, Youth Ambassadors Adelina Lysenko and Mariia Borzykh joined guest speaker Kobayashi Shingo from Peace Boat Disaster Relief (PBV) at an event to promote grassroots humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

“Peace Boat Disaster Relief (PBV) has been sending aid to the people of Ukraine ever since the start of the invasion,” demonstrated Shingo. For example, “we have been collaborating with the Romanian NGO Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR) to send relief supplies to hospitals and other facilities in Ukraine via Romania,” he explained. “In addition, PBV has been working with the Romanian National Council for Refugees (CNRR) to support Ukrainian refugees living in Romania. Refugees face many challenges, including educational, bureaucratic, financial and psychological difficulties, among others.”

Next, Adelina Lysenko spoke about her activities at NPO Kraiany, a Ukrainian community organisation in Japan. “We raised money and used it to send retired ambulances from Japan to Ukraine,” said Adelina. “Furthermore, we used our funds to build shelters for school children in hard-hit Ukrainian towns. Moreover, we’ve invited injured Ukrainian soldiers to Japan who’ve lost legs and limbs, so that they can go through rehabilitation in Japan. On top of that, at Kraiany we also provide assistance to Ukrainian evacuees in Japan, helping them to adapt to Japanese society and sort out documents.”

Mariia Borzykh, who has also had experience working with Ukrainian refugees in Japan, introduced her experience working at the Aichi International Association in Nagoya as a Japanese-Ukrainian interpreter. “Ukrainians in Japan face a language barrier. It’s hard for them to assimilate to life in Japan. My mother, for example, can’t read Kanji (Chinese characters) and she couldn’t even buy milk on her own at the supermarket in the beginning. Now she can. A number of Ukrainian refugees don’t have landlines and they call me on the LINE app whenever they have problems, with documents at the hospital, in administration, etc. Once, a Ukrainian woman wrote to me tearfully, saying she couldn’t read the words on the remote control and thus couldn’t turn on the air conditioner in her apartment and was suffering from the intense summer heat.”

The Ukraine Charity Auction, attended by about 300 passengers, was one of the highlights of the 117th Voyage. Peace Boat staff and volunteers, the Captain, officers, crew members and the Ukraine Youth Ambassadors themselves provided all kinds of services, raising in total, combined with donations, 1,716,079 JPY (roughly 12, 000 USD). These funds were donated to United24 Medical Aid and UAnimals in Ukraine. Peace Boat would like to thank everyone who contributed to this charity auction.