Ukrainian journalist pleads for more action to help homeland at Manchester rally
ITV Granada Reports journalist Jennifer Buck spoke to Maria Romanenko at a rally in Manchester.
A Ukrainian journalist who left Kyiv after fears of her name being on Russia's 'kill list' has called for more action to help her homeland - and the millions of refugees fleeing it.
Maria Romanenko escaped Ukraine's capital city at the end of February with her boyfriend, Jez Myers, who is from Manchester, before securing a visa to live in the UK.
She joined the Ukrainian community - and hundreds of other people the North West - at a rally against Russia's invasion of the country on Saturday, 5 March.
Amongst the crowds were many people who still have family members trying to get out of the Ukraine or sheltering from the violence.
Crowd sings Ukrainian national anthem at a rally in Manchester city centre
They gathered in the centre of Manchester to show support and offer help - and even sang the Ukrainian national anthem in solidarity.
But Maria believes more action needs to be taken to help not only the millions of refugees fleeing the war-torn country, but the people who are choosing to stay and fight.
She said: "The whole situation is escalating very rapidly in Ukraine and people are running out of food and shops are running out of supplies.
"I think it's very important not to just speak works but also do actions and donate to charities help Ukraine, within Ukraine, to cope with it as much as possible."
Maria Romanenko's urges people to take more action to help Ukraine.
More than £100 million has been raised to provide aid for Ukraine in what has been described as an “amazing show of support” from the UK public.
That is the equivalent of more than £1 million an hour since the appeal was launched, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said.
Boris Johnson is to meeting world leaders this week to discuss the war in Ukraine, as the UK government vows to go "faster and harder" with economic sanctions against Russia.
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