With Sunday marking the 34th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, Max Makavchuk and Denys Storozhuk recently sat down for an interview with Jim Csek of NowMedia and shed light on the devastating impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Makavchuk, who recently graduated from high school, described the dire situation back home, where inflation has tripled prices, electricity is rationed and vast areas of Ukraine have been destroyed.
“It’s not the real world anymore, it's just all destroyed,” Makavchuk said about some areas back home, adding that his father and many friends are fighting in the conflict.
The trio’s discussion also touched on recent peace talks and the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska.
“It's basically, it's more psychological war between Trump and Putin than real diplomacy or anything,” said Storozhuk before adding he thinks Trump wants to end the war, but does not care about the conditions of a ceasefire.
Storozhuk then explained that there is a strong sentiment in Ukraine to continue fighting and not surrender any territories to Putin.
“He (Trump) thinks if he can broker the deal where Putin and Zelensky sign, whatever the conditions, that will be a victory for him, but in Ukraine, it does not work like that. We were fighting for three years, and we held every inch of our ground," said Storozhuk.
Watch the above video to hear more about the trio’s discussion, including immigration challenges some Ukrainians in Canada are facing, Ukrainian Independence Day and much more.
