This week’s guest is Veronika Didusenko, former Miss Ukraine. She was stripped of the title for also being a mother and is an activist for the #righttobeamother campaign. But, she is on More Than Work now to talk about the Russian war on Ukraine.

Veronika is one of 2 million people who has fled Ukraine. She left with her son. She talks about the experience of leaving, the people who are still at home and what we can do to help.


We spoke after she held a press conference in Los Angeles with Gloria Allred asking the US to take more action including issuing emergency Visas and status to those fleeing Ukraine. She could not bring her son with her to the United States because he did not have a Visa.

Actions to take:

If you know of Ukrainian refugees, help them by providing housing, clothing, food and anything else they may need. They left their homes with very little and don’t know that they will see them again.

Contact your government representatives and ask that US (or UK) immigration laws be adjusted to allow Ukrainian refugees of war to enter the country. Families should not be separated and people need to find the help they need.

Contact your representatives and encourage them to continue to send weapons, munitions, food, etc to Ukraine.

Note from Rabiah (Host): I wanted to talk to Veronika under different circumstances. She is an extraordinary woman. We will do so in the future. For now, it is important her voice and the voice of other Ukrainians is heard. One part of the conversation that we didn’t get in the recording was her recounting that a child died of dehydration while in shelter in Ukraine because there was no water. This is a humanitarian crisis. It is a tragedy. It is war. Thank you for listening.

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Find Veronika

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vdidusenko  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veronika_didusenko

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/veronika.didusenko.official

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Mentioned in this episode: The call to action is to help people in need and to contact government officials.

One resource for supporting Ukraine: https://ukrainianinstitute.org.uk/russias-war-against-ukraine-what-can-you-do-to-support-ukraine-ukrainians/ 

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