AMC Bridge’s Business Analyst Anna Tsurkan was recently live on Facebook at the invitation of David Fouché, a longtime client.

“David suggested I take part in the live broadcast so that we, Ukrainians, could talk about the war. I suppose that it is important to use all options now to spread information about russia's war in Ukraine. That’s why I agreed.” Having departed Ukraine Anna chose to invite a friend who was still in Ukraine, “I also invited my friend Oleksii who lives in Bucha to the stream. He told his own story about the war.”

Here are some excerpts from the live event:

Anna: “My every day starts and ends with checking the news and if my family is okay.”

I cannot share my personal experience of hiding in bomb shelters or working while the air raid alarm is screaming. But all of my family is in Ukraine, and my every day starts and ends with checking the news and if my family is okay. If they do not reply within one hour, I start panicking. And for the last three weeks, I have been living with the predominant feeling of anxiety and fear for people who are close to me.

My team is located in Dnipro, but we also have team members in other cities, including Sumy. That city was surrounded by russians and have suffered a lot. Some people managed to escape, but they had to make a horrible yet critical decision of whether or not to stay in the occupied city. Either way, there was a huge risk of being killed... russians say that their aim is military objects, but it is not true. They bomb and shell hospitals, maternity hospitals, and civilians trying to escape. Luckily, my teammates managed to escape. The reality is, there is no safe place in Ukraine right now. Everyone can be in danger—no matter where they are.

“We keep working right now in order to pay taxes and support our army.”

My team is fantastic. Despite all of the alarms and dangers, they keep working. Working helps to distract us from what’s going on, at least for some time. Another important thing is that we have to keep on working, making money, and supporting the Ukrainian army. It’s what we can do now. Three million Ukrainians left Ukraine, but I’m sure that all of them are still trying to help as much as possible. Editor's Note: As of March 26, the number of externally displaced people reached 3.8 million.

—What would you like to say to the American people who watch the stream?

First of all, this could happen to anyone. As long as we let such psychopaths be in power, we are not safe. 

A year ago, one of my Ukrainian teammates stayed in Israel for some time and during an important meeting, he said, “Sorry, guys, I have to hide: we have an alarm here.” And I thought, “Oh my God, how could someone live with that? That would never happen to us!” But it could happen to anyone.

The second thing I want to say is that there are official funds through which people can support Ukraine financially. But not all people have the possibility to donate. However, everyone can help us share news about what is going on here in Ukraine. And when we win (I’m sure that we’ll win because the truth is on our side), I believe you all will come to Ukraine and see our amazing people. They are very brave and kind. And our Ukraine is beautiful, and I hope you all will have a chance to see it when everything is okay.

David: “You work like nothing is going on!”

On February 25, David posted the following note on his blog:

“I woke up this morning at 6 AM to the news of the russian invasion of Ukraine. At 8:30 AM, I was at my desk in a virtual meeting with our software development team for a project I was working on...

The meeting was surreal. They all had their webcams on so I could see them and talk to them (with no delay whatsoever). They shared their screens; I shared mine. We discussed the work that needed to be done while I kept a news website up to date on another screen and monitored the ongoing war. I truly expected to see a mortar come crashing through one of their homes while we spoke. It lasted a full hour and a half. 

I was a bit of a nervous wreck. Yet these people were calm and professional, and we got the work done.”

“Now more than ever, you are willing to work.”

The guys that I’ve been working with on your team are so unbelievably professional. My company just can’t express what a joy is to work with you all. And these guys from Dnipro and some other cities were just working as if nothing was going on.

I see a lot of things on LinkedIn, I know that Mark Driscoll and AMC Bridge are posting like ‘Hire us!’ And the world might think right now, ‘Oh, Gosh, Ukraine is at war, they are off-limits, we are not going to hire them right now.’ But it’s just the opposite. Now more than ever is when you need to work, and now more than ever, you are willing to work. Because that’s how you donate and contribute to your country’s freedom.

A lot of people in this country wonder, ‘How can I help?’ I’ll be honest — helping you to tell your stories, is how I’m trying to help you.

Anna: Right now, it’s really important for us to support people who are still in Ukraine, who are fighting for their lives, for our way of life, and the chance for people like me to come back home. That’s why another emotion I feel every day is immense love and massive respect for those people. They are undergoing terrible, extremely terrible things. And it is not a movie; it is not a crisis. It’s a war.

Original video: facebook.com