When African Students Needed Help Leaving Ukraine, Black Americans And The Diaspora Responded

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is sounding an alarm: The potential for “significant international conflict is increasing, not decreasing.” General Mark Milley shared his concern with lawmakers as daily pictures from Ukraine show the suffering endured by men, women and children during the Russian invasion.

Black Americans have joined the global community outreach effort, donating to Black Women For Black Lives, an organization founded by three women. Diaspora Relief which said it was created in response to the racism experienced by African students trying to leave or who had already left Ukraine.

A 20-year-old student named Axel fled Ukraine with a story of racism. He was in the country studying computer science at a university near Kiev.

In an interview with EuroNews, he said, “We were told to wait. He spoke aggressively, brutally and with crazy gestures.”

According to EuroNews, videos showed Black people pushed off trains and animals prioritized before them.

Axel eventually made it to Belgium where he has been helped by the Afro-Belgian organization, Change.

From the United States, resources and donations are shipped to countries where African students have been welcomed as refugees.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the United Nations Security Council to convene a conference and challenged them to uphold international law or disband. He accused Russia of war crimes, saying women were “raped and shot in front of their children.” Horrifying images from Bucha, a suburb of Kiev, have stunned the world, and satellite companies have joined the search for evidence of war atrocities.