We have all been utterly horrified by the news coming from Ukraine.

City Council candidate Cameron Holloway, who studied in the Slavonic Department at Cambridge University and has spent time in Russia, says: “It is utterly heartbreaking to hear speakers’ stories of friends and family members at the Cambridge University Ukrainian Society’s daily rallies – it’s an unimaginable situation, and I have huge admiration for their courage and strength. It’s easy to feel helpless, but there are things we can do – donate, write to MPs to demand that they waive visas for refugees, join rallies.”

The daily rallies and vigils have been incredibly emotionally charged, as speakers tell stories of their friends and family who are under siege in Ukrainian cities, or fleeing for their lives.

Tuesday’s was the most heart wrenchingly tragic of all the rallies so far – one man’s close friend, a young woman who spent her life volunteering and helping others, had been killed by a Russian rocket, he told the crowd.

When, as every day, the members of CUUS thanked attendees for their support, Cameron felt moved to speak.

Here is what he said:

“Every day we gather here, and you thank us, every day, for our support. But it is you we should be thanking.
I can’t imagine what you are experiencing, what people in Ukraine are experiencing. I am lucky to live here in the UK, a country that has not seen war in many years. It’s impossible for us to understand what you are going through.

I have so much admiration for your extraordinary courage and strength, under the most incredible pressure, the most severe stress. I know that you are all doing all you can, every hour of the day, and perhaps every hour of the night as well.

And you are making a massive difference. Every one of us here is donating, campaigning, spreading information that you give us. How many people were at the vigil last Thursday, a thousand? How many were at the march on Saturday – many hundreds, maybe a thousand? And every one of us talks to more people, passes information to more people, gets more people to donate.

How much are you responsible for, in donations? Many many thousands. How many people are better informed because of the information you give us every day? Thousands more.

You are having an impact not only here in Cambridge, but around the world.

So thank you.

And thank you for teaching us about your beautiful country. I studied in the Slavonic Department, but I studied Russian and Polish – unfortunately I didn’t study Ukrainian. And I regret that now. It’s never too late I suppose! You tell us stories, not just of war, but of the art and culture and people of Ukraine. And this matters, because otherwise, it might be that some people forget about Ukraine, that they don’t care, that they think it’s just some far off place where there’s a war. That’s why it matters that you teach us about your country, that we’re all learning the national anthem, we’re learning some phrases, because we can spread the word to others, and we will make people care.

So just remember, you are making a huge difference, and that’s why I want to say thank you to you.”

For more information, follow Cambridge University Ukrainian Society here: https://www.facebook.com/CUUAsoc/.

You can find ways to donate and support people in Ukraine here: https://supportukrainenow.org/.