This material is updated to serve as a helpful resource to continue advocating for Ukraine.

HELP PROTECT UKRAINIAN AIRSPACE 

In his address to the US Congress, President Zelensky asks for more military aid, while Ukraine defends its democracy and becomes an example for the whole world to follow. Let’s amplify the voice of all Ukrainians – close the sky over Ukraine! We are focusing on 2 ways our activism can help Ukraine both here and abroad. Please join our advocacy challenge and make your voice heard. Bombs in Ukraine are bombs on the doorstep of Europe. Russia does not need a real excuse to start a war in other European countries, and it’s vocal about it. Ahead of Biden’s visit to NATO next week, we need to advocate for more military aid to Ukraine – planes, missile complexes, etc. Helping Ukraine now means helping the entire world peace.

Please contact your elected representatives, the White House, the State Department, the UN, and NATO – contact info below. Please amplify this message further by sharing on your social media and speaking to people in your community directly.  Speak to your neighbors, friends, and co-workers and ask them to support Ukraine by contacting their elected officials and posting on their social media.

Contact Info For Government Officials:

  • State Department & the Secretary of State

  • Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US Representative to the UN

  • Twitter: @USAmbUN

  • Julienne Smith, US Ambassador to NATO:

  • Twitter: @usnato

  • Instagram: USMissionNATO

  • Facebook:  USMissionNato

 

Sample Letter to Elected Officials:

Dear X,

We are grateful for the immense financial support the US provided to Ukraine during the Russian aggression. However, the United States can and must do more to support the Ukrainian people. Russia is not as invincible as most thought. Its army is a colossus on clay feet as the Armed Forces of Ukraine have shown. Ukraine needs the world’s help because in desperation Russia is no longer using brutal force, but depravity that violates international law: shooting innocent civilians, taking them hostage, shelling kindergartens, schools, and hospitals. I implore you to provide aircraft and missile defense systems to Ukraine and to work with NATO to create a No-Fly Zone to protect civilians from Russian bombardment.

 

Thank you,

Your Constituent

SUPPORT UKRAINE LOCALLY WITH CULTURAL ACTIVISM

There are currently over 50 American cities with “sister-cities” and “twin-towns” in Russia. The Ukrainian Embassy has asked that we reach out to our local municipalities and ask them to break their sibling relationship. American cities should not express solidarity with Russia – the nation that claimed to be “brotherly” is destroying Ukrainians for the third week now.

Please check the link below to see if your city, or a neighboring city, is “twinned” with Russia.  If they are, please reach out to your mayor or city council and ask them to support Ukraine and suspend sister-city status.

 

 

DAY 1. Contact President Biden

PP Public Advocacy Training e1645796009748 | UNWLA - Ukrainian National Womens League of AmericaTo reach the White House:

WhiteHouse comment line: 202-456-1111

(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11:00 am to 3:00 pm)

Email: www.whitehouse.gov/contact

 

DAY 2. Tell your community what is happening in Ukraine

Writing a letter to the editor is easier than you think.  In addition to writing letters to your members of Congress, sending letters to the editor is an important part of advocacy for Ukraine, because they:

  • reach a large audience;
  • are often monitored by elected officials;
  • can bring a personal viewpoint;
  • create an impression of widespread support for or opposing an issue.

Here is a link to find your local newspapers:  https://www.50states.com/news/

And here is a recommended text – add your own details but keep it short:

“Dear Editor,
while Ukraine is in the headlines of newspapers around the world, it’s important to raise awareness of Ukraine in our local community. In the early hours of February 24, 2022, the Russian Armed Forces started shelling peaceful cities in an attempt to subjugate Ukraine to Moscow’s imperial rule and deprive Ukraine of its sovereignty. The US and its allies must stop the Kremlin’s premeditated atrocious war against Ukraine, Europe, and international rules-based order.

If we continue to kick this can down the road, as we did when Russia devastated Chechnya, invaded and partitioned Georgia, annexed Crimea, and occupied Donbas, Putin will escalate further. Russia’s greatest weakness lies in the reliance of the Russian elite on our banks, safe investment-grade assets, and comfortable living and vacations in our countries. 

Today, Russian troops bomb and march on Kyiv but recent history has taught us that Putin will not stop there.  China, of course, is also watching intently how we respond: weakness in our response to Russia will embolden China on Taiwan. Failure to act decisively on Russia now risks wider war and also signals to our adversaries that it’s a war we no longer have the resolve to win. All peace-loving people and nations must act with unity and resolve now and support the Ukrainian peoples’ right to statehood and independence. Specifically, I urge the US and its allies to:
  1. Immediately enact full sanctions on Russia, including removal from the SWIFT International Payments System;
  2. Deliver anti-air, anti-rocket, and naval defense systems to Ukraine;
  3. Implement a full trade embargo on Russia and seize all assets held in the west of Russian oligarchs and government officials;
  4. Ban Russian ships from Western ports;
  5. Establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine

(Your name and contact information).”

Please include your name (profession if necessary), city, state, email address, and daytime phone number for verification purposes. All letters are subject to editing. Please check with specific newspapers for any additional guidelines.

 

DAY 3.  #NYETFLIX – Mission Accomplished!

Nyetflix e1645983812726 | UNWLA - Ukrainian National Womens League of America

While Russia was trying to silence Ukrainian voices,
Netflix has agreed to broadcast Putin’s propaganda
but reversed its decision under the public’s pressure.

 

Steps taken:

  1. Created and signed the Change.org petition
  2. Shared the news with friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media using hashtag #Nyetflix
  3. Tweeted @reedhastings and let him know that we won’t stand for Russian Propaganda on an American platform
  4. Netflix Subscribers also contacted  Netflix Customer Service and let them know! They log all of the calls and Live Chats.

 

DAY 4. Emergency Bill to Support Ukraine in Congress

Congress has met for an emergency session that day to consider a bill that grants significant support to Ukraine. We mobilized our community to reach out to all of the congressional representatives in both the House and Senate and ask them to support this bill!

RESOURCE: Click here and fill out your address to quickly contact your representatives in Congress.


Day 5. Mute Russian Propaganda

There are still American companies profiting off of Russia’s propaganda. America’s top 5 cable providers still offer a “Russian Package,” giving Putin’s propaganda machine a direct route into American homes. Since 2014 Ukrainians have petitioned them to stop broadcasting state-sponsored Russian television. These add-on packages are huge moneymakers for cable providers. As Ukrainian civilians are killed by Russian bombs and millions flee for safety, these companies continue to give Putin a voice. So-called “news” programs are prohibited from using the words “attack, invasion, war” to describe the atrocities happening in Ukraine.

European and Canadian cable channels have already blocked Putin. Now it’s time for the US. On day 5 of the challenge we are reaching out to the top 5 Cable providers and letting them know how we feel about “Russian packages”.

Action steps:

  1. Sign our Petition and share it with friends: https://chng.it/vD99y2N6mM
  2. Share this message on social media & tweet the companies directly – be sure to include the hashtags #Mutin’Putin’   #MutePutin  #MuteRT #noRTonUSTV
  3. Contact the companies directly – you don’t need to be a customer to contact their customer service. If you say you want to sign up as a new customer they will connect you to a representative immediately!

Contact the CEOs with this sample message:
Dear (CEO), Even as Russia rains death on Ukraine, your company continues to give Putin a platform. Your “Russian Package” brings Putin’s propaganda channels directly into US homes and it has to stop.  Canada and Europe’s cable companies have already blocked Russian State television – now it’s time for America to step up. Please block all Russian State Television immediately. Sincerely,
(Your Name)

Contact information:

DAY 6. The great Russian divestment

Both Shell, Exxon, and BP have pledged to divest their Russian energy assets. Around the country, our state treasuries and pension funds are pulling their investments in Russian state-owned enterprises and businesses. If our state governments are divesting, our universities and colleges should too!

Universities have endowments worth billions. When added together the 20 largest endowments are worth $412 billion, and some of that money is invested in Russia. Reach out to your alma maters as alumni. Next, contact the universities with the biggest endowments. It’s time to tell these institutes of higher education that investing in Russia is unacceptable.

Action steps:

  1. Reach out to your Alma Mater. Contact the Alumni office, the president, and, if possible, the chief investment officer.  Send them a message that you won’t support a university that supports Russia.

  2.  Share this with other alumni and ask them to support Ukraine by reaching out themselves.

  3. Reach out to the schools with the largest endowments and ask them to make a statement of support for Ukraine by divesting in Russia. The list of top-20 US universities by the total size of endowment can be found at this link.

How to contact:

We’ve listed contact info for many universities below. If your university isn’t on this list, it’s easy to find this information yourself! Here’s how:

  1. Search “(my university) Alumni association”

    1. If you receive emails from your school’s alumni association you’ll already have the name and contact info of the alumni affairs officer.

  2. Search “(my university) president office”

    1. The president’s name and contact info should be easily accessible on their webpage.

  3. Search “(my university) endowment office”

    1. The name of the Chief Investment Officer is often listed under “Team” or “People”. They may or may not have email and phone numbers listed. If they don’t, just find the contact info for the office itself (check “Contact”, or at the bottom of the page).


Sample Alumni Email:

Dear (Alumni Affairs officer/ President / Chief Investment Officer),

I am an alumni from the class of (XX) and a (Ukrainian / Ukrainian American / Supporter of Ukraine). As Ukraine battles for her very existence, I ask that (X University/College) & its endowment divest itself from any investments tied to the Russian state and sanctioned oligarchs. Until this university divests itself from the Russian State and the industries that support it, I will pause my financial support.     

Please make a stand for Ukraine!  

Sincerely,
(Your name) 

 

Sample Large Endowment Email:

Dear (President/ Chief Investment Officer),

Last year, your university’s endowment was worth X.  Please make sure that not a cent of it is going to support the ongoing onslaught of Ukraine. Institutes of higher education should not fund aggressors and occupants. Please make a statement of support by divesting X’s investments in the Russian state and sanctioned oligarchs.  

Sincerely,
(Your name)

DAY 7

NATO foreign ministers met for an extraordinary session on March 4. The UNWLA and millions of Ukrainian Americans implored to insist on the implementation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Ukraine has many times proved it belongs to the democratic world. Protection of democracy for Ukrainians is paramount. Today, Ukraine needs the help of all democracies to overcome the dictator of a huge country, which is a threat to the world. NATO must intervene.

In just the past few days, the UN Human Rights office confirms at least 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 injured by Russian attacks. These indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets with bombs, missiles, rockets, and shells constitute a serious war crime under the Geneva Conventions, Rule 71. To protect his population, Ukrainian commander-in-chief, President Volodymyr Zelensky, requested a no-fly zone.

Please mobilize TODAY and urge NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to give Ukraine more anti-defense systems, to give Ukraine fighter jets. Help Ukraine shelter the sky – and Ukrainian heroes will handle the rest.

US Mission To NATO:

[email protected]

Twitter: @USnato

Instagram: @USmissionNATO

FB: U.S. Mission to NATO