We reached out to a native Ukrainian Yev Kanivets, a professional mobile engineer who has witnessed Russia's invasion firsthand. He shared his first-hand account with Bored Panda on what happened the past two days.

Yev was living in Kharkiv, which is one of the major cities attacked by Putin. “I woke up at 5 a.m. from the explosions in MY CITY. I was prepared and lucky enough to evacuate in one hour. There were traffic jams around the city, so we spent almost 2 hours going far enough,” Yev wrote in a heartbreaking post on Linkedin.

“I was lucky to evacuate. My wife and I were driving our car the whole day, 14 hours, like crazy to get as far as we could from the danger. We are exhausted, stressed, and worried about mothers who remained in the Kharkiv region.”

When Yev arrived at Kropivnitskiy, he and his family already had a room booked to stay at night. “The hostess was very nice to us,” he said.

“We didn't eat anything the whole day because of stress and couldn't sleep enough. There were Ukrainian jet-fighters flying over us the whole night, so no bombs were dropped. But we couldn't sleep anyway. We worried a lot about our friends that stayed in Kharkiv, which was bombarded and attacked by tanks,” Yev recounted.

The next morning Yev said they woke up tired, still stressed. “But, obviously, it's much better to wake up because of the sun, not explosions. In this part of Ukraine, there were no fights, no Russian troops, it was much easier to get the fuel,” he said. So they fueled the car and departed to the small city near Uman. “Hot dogs and coffee at the fuel station were our breakfast in the new world,” he said.

While driving, Yev and his family visited many small cities. “There was no single person in panic. Everybody stayed calm, friendly, and ready for anything. No problems with goods or resources.”

Because they planned their trip at night and in a hurry, there was a mistake with the booking date. “So when we arrived at Tulchin and asked for our booking we discovered it was for tomorrow. Hence we didn't have a place to spend a night in,” he said.

Yev said that it was the first time we called hotels by phone in our whole lives since he said, “we’re Booking and Airbnb generation.” “We called about a dozen hotels, and all places were taken. Then we tried to increase the area and, finally, found a small room 40 minutes from us. At this point, we were totally exhausted again,” he told us. Yev said that finally, they’re going to sleep well.

“I (and other 40 million Ukrainians) are fully aligned with what official Ukraine's Twitter account says about the situation. The only thing I'd added from my personal experience is that I've never seen Ukraine this united–the Russian invasion was like a catalyst,” Yev said.

Yev urges foreigners to follow the official trustworthy accounts of the Ukrainian government, like this one. “Spread what you see there, so everybody knows what's happening,” he said.

Another way to help is to peacefully press your government to help Ukraine and sanction Russia, says Yev. Donations are very needed as well, so if you want to help Ukraine and support the future of democracy, scroll down below for the list of charities.

President Joe Biden yesterday released a statement condemning Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and called the attack “unprovoked and unjustified.” Biden stated that “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way.” He assured that “the world will hold Russia accountable.”

On Thursday, Biden unveiled a list of sanctions on Russia to punish the country for its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The new sanctions include export blocks on technology, a centerpiece of Biden's approach to limit Russia's advancement of its military and aerospace sector as much as possible. In addition, sanctions were applied on Russian banks and "corrupt billionaires," as well as their families who are close to the Kremlin.

However, there was disappointment that the round of sanctions unveiled by the US and Europe did not remove Russia from the SWIFT financial messaging system. Here is the list of global sanctions applied on Russia for the war in Ukraine.

As news of the invasion and its consequences for the Ukrainian people is spreading around the world, making people observe the country in a tragedy unprecedented for the advanced century we live in, you may feel the desire to help. Below are some ways you can help.

Charities that help the war effort

Save Life: This NGO crowdfunds non-lethal military equipment, such as thermal vision scopes, & supplies it to the Donbas front lines. It also provides training for Ukrainian soldiers, as well as researching troops’ needs and social reintegration of veterans.

Donbas SOS: This organization helps those who live in the Donbas war zone, those who relocated to other parts of Ukraine, and freed prisoners of war. It offers legal support, accommodation assistance, and psychological aid among other things.

Crimea SOS: This organization has been helping internally displaced people from Crimea since Russia occupied the peninsula in 2014. It documents Russian authorities' repressions against Crimeans and advocates for the end of the occupation.

Hospitallers : This is a medical battalion that unites volunteer paramedics and doctors to save the lives of soldiers on the frontline. They crowdfund their vehicle repairs, fuel, and medical equipment.