My Thoughts On Russia/Ukraine As A Russian Immigrant

- When I was six years old,

my family and I escaped from Russia

and came to the United States as refugees.

Today I wanna share that story

and talk about how those experiences shaped my feelings

on the current Ukrainian-Russian conflict

where I still have family living to this very day.

(dramatic music)

Being that I was so young when we left Russia,

I don't have a lot of memories

as to what my feelings were at the time,

what I even knew at the time.

But as I became older, I had more questions for my family.

I repeatedly questioned my father.

"Why did we leave Russia? Why did we get refugee status?"

And he consistently told me the same points.

One, it was the political corruption.

I mean, money runs the world in Russia.

Bribery was rampant, especially within the government.

After the fall of the Soviet Union

my father told me that the economy

was literally up for grabs by the oligarchs there.

Certain individuals gained huge economic power

while the majority of the people

were living paycheck to paycheck

or even unable to make ends meet and were starving.

(man speaking in foreign language)

- [Reporter] "I find my food in the bin," he cries.

"Why was I born? For what reason?"

- Second was the antisemitism aspect.

My father, born in Ukraine, is Jewish.

In Russia, there was antisemitism that was growing,

and he felt it economically.

He felt it even throughout his education process.

And the final thing he was worried about

was what would happen to me and my sister.

He saw crime was at an all-time high.

He saw the economy was collapsing.

He saw that the education system was suffering.

There was so little money

being put towards the future of Russia.

And he became genuinely worried.

Turns out he was right about almost everything.

25 years later, the risk that he took,

well, him and my mom took

to get me and my sister here has paid off,

and I owe them a debt of gratitude

for completely changing my life.

(dramatic music)

- The Russian forces came in broadly on three fronts.

From the North, from the South, and from the East.

- When I talk to my father about this,

the anxiety that he has,

the panic attacks that he's developed

as a result of watching Ukrainians suffer,

watching Russia unprovoked invade Ukraine.

- Russian Multiplier Rocket Launcher Grad strikes hospitals,

schools, kindergarten, and apartments of civilians.

- Where so many families are related.

Ukrainian people have family in Russia.

Russian people have Ukrainian family members.

And the reality of causing these countries

to go to war for no reason,

I don't mean there's no geopolitical discourse that is real.

It is real, and there are disagreements,

but war is never the answer.

(protestors shouting in foreign language)

For the Russians that are out there

that are protesting the war,

that's the strongest level of courage I've ever seen

because to stand against a corrupt government,

to go in the media and hold up a sign,

to go onto the streets and protest

where it's against the law to do this,

to speak out against your government

is really a thing of beauty.

I stand up with those people.

I want to thank those people

for fighting against their own government.

For the people who aren't speaking out against it,

I'm understanding as well.

The Russian government,

the ones in power do a really good job

at having a chokehold of the media,

of controlling the state-sponsored messages that people see.

They've confused the Russian soldiers

into believing that there's Nazis in Ukraine.

This is a country where the President of Ukraine is Jewish.

He's had family members die in the Holocaust.

How can you say you're invading a country

to rid them of Nazis when the person in power

is the opposite of a Nazi?

- [Reporter] No relief in sight for the city of Mariupol

where more than 100,000 people are still trapped.

- [Mike] Innocent bystanders are suffering.

Soldiers that are merely

protecting their own homeland are suffering.

(soldier speaking in foreign language)

- The economic sanctions

are not only destroying the ones in power

and the oligarchs and hurting them

but they're also hurting the everyday people.

- [Reporter] One resident, Svetlana,

purchased more than 20 pounds of sugar

in the city of Vladimir, an hour away.

- So I'm hopeful that there's some sort

of diplomatic solution in the future.

And while my responsibility right now is to my patients

and the ones that I take care of in the hospital,

I do wanna do something for this war.

There is a way for me to support Ukraine.

As many of you know, I have an upcoming boxing match

that was recently announced against iDubbbz.

Every dollar that I'm gonna earn from that boxing match

I'm planning on donating to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund

hosted by GlobalGiving.

I've done a lot of research on this foundation.

It has four out of four stars on Charity Navigator.

My Patreon community recently donated

almost $6,000 to this organization.

They have a goal of raising $20 million

having already raised $17 million.

Also all the proceeds of this video, all the AdSense revenue

will go to the Ukrainian Crisis Relief Fund.

I'm also making this an official charity video

where you can donate.

Anything you can donate matters.

To the Russian leadership and politicians,

please end this war.

There has to be a diplomatic solution here.

And to the Ukrainian people, know that we stand with you.

Thank you for watching.