Info On How to Donate or Help Ukraine

Hard to say it is safe, when you’re engaging in an activity which is actually illegal in many places. It doesn’t really matter who or what the target is. Though it is unlikely anyone is going to come after you for it, though your ISP might still throttle or even cancel your contract for it.

Also you can get yourself black listed on various malware watchlist for compromised machines and the like, which could result in having your ability to access sites protected by such companies and lists limited or denied for a period of time.

Just be aware so that you can make an informed decision.

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I can hardly imagine any ISP actually going to do anything about it :slight_smile: Unless you are from North Korea.

About your second point i dont have any ‘qualification’ to comment on that so not gonna.

Anyway, even if so , small price to pay for actually doing something to help.

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I forgot to mention that I purchased the game. I hope that balances out with me posting this Simpsons episode.

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Kerberos devs are offering free games to Both Ukrainians and Russian people.

And so, even as we acknowledge how trivial this gesture is in the scheme of things, we make this offer to any citizen of the Ukraine; If you are in any position to need a small distraction from everything yourself or are caring for kids who need some fun, then please reach out and we will send you a copy of anything in our library you would like.

This offer is also open to our sisters and brothers in Russia who are risking their freedom protesting this war. We see you.

Stay strong and never let them take your humanity.

From what I can see here’s a list of their games…

@Glider and @joxter, if you need a distraction or got kids, this if for you.
Don’t know of any others that fit this bill…

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I’m sorry if i will sound harsh,but …Free games for russians,lol? Take their minds of what is happening?

No. They need to have full attention on what their bands of orcs are doing in Ukraine. Killing children,women and elderly by thousands ,shooting at journalists,raping women.

If steam would have any backbone they would follow other major companies and pull out of russia alltogether .

But they dont have a backbone.

Even those pathetic shills from EA made a move. Even them…

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I understand how you feel, but I don’t feel that’s the whole picture. Yes their leader is doing some horrible things, but I don’t necessarily think the majority of the people believe in what he is doing, but they are being put under the umbrella that they feel the same way and are condoning his actions and that can be disturbing. I really don’t want to start another discussion on this but maybe just read what @joxter wrote here Crazy News Stories - #1188 by joxter for a better idea.

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@delenn13 thank you for your concern. It means the world. You are the heart of this community in civil times, and even in war.
@PeteMcc thanks for humanity and the great effort to keep things civil. I believe this kind of attitude saves lives - in a long perspective, at least.

@DontBeSilly There’s a thing many people outside Russia do not understand. It is that local people who support Putin, they… mostly don’t really play videogames, except for the simplest ones - this hobby is too engaging, it takes too much brain effort. I am not saying they are dumb; it’s just that if you watch compilation videos of russians’ reaction to Putin’s attack on Ukraine, you will see that people who say “I support Putin!” either look extremely terrified and try to run away from the cameras or are smiling with idiotic smiles and look troubled when they are asked to give their own opinion. It is frightening, as it reminds of Orwell’s works.

However you should also know that if there are active gamers who support Putin, they won’t be able to grab the freebies and make fun of the company that offers them, as these games aren’t free for us - at least as I open the link, I see that. Also if these Putin-supporting gamers ever try to buy these games, they are out of luck. Direct Steam game buying days are over for Russia, as PayPal is gone. I guess free games are still on, but they will sure be gone in a while, along with Steam. Just as food. Just as stuff. Just as any amount of personal freedom, or thought freedom.

If anyone has any interest in more inside perspective, it can be found here - but it's over blabbery, and not that useful, so be prepared. I hope I won't have to write anything more about that here, and sorry, I won't be partaking in discussions. Please understand.

I have never ever in my life thought I will become a murderer. I always thought human life is precious. But here I am, stacking on explosive components, because… what else?! I still believe my marriage vows and marriage responsibilities are top priority, and my partner is the one I should take care about the most. How do you throw that away??? I don’t have the answers!!! My partner was doing fairly well, even with all the stress, and shakes, and breakdowns, it is still fairly well, regarding the whole situation. But because of the explosives, and the upcoming perspectives, my partner just starts to look… dead. Like I’ve already murdered us both. I can see it in the eyes, in everything. I guess that’s where I went wrong in life - i became too important for someone, and that someone became too important for me, so i cannot even radicalize and wreak havoc properly.

I am so happy my sister was able to get out, but I am so sad I probably won’t see her ever again. I feel nothing on the fact my father gave up to Putin’s propaganda - this place on the map of thought just feels numb. Overall, I feel that my life is over, and I feel that’s a fact; if there was another route, it feels like it’s gone now; the presence of the explosives is overwhelming; it’s heavy, even when I don’t look at that part of the room. It’s like it has its own gravity center, or something. It makes me want to vomit; but then again, it might be some life-preserving instincts getting in conflict with the content of my life.

I am writing it all here because, I guess, I needed some place to say stuff. Chrono is safe because it is the platform nobody will be looking for. I cannot allow myself any form of public speech, even in Telegram, because if what feels like it is inevitable at this point actually happens, I don’t want anything to trail back to my partner, or any good people whom I know and who still live in Russia, in any way. Even now I still look for any form of other solution; the thing is, non-violent protest is useless as you just get arrested at spot and that’s it; it’s pain for relatives, friends, family with no gain, and this is a lot of extra work for volunteers who are already past the limit of their capabilities right now. And a violent protest will only have any influence if there’s a considerable amount of violence; even then, it won’t amount to anything - they’ll brush it off, maybe enter the troops, and be done with it. That’s because me, and certain other people… we didn’t do right in this life. I was learning languages, drawing, coding, playing videogames - and what I should have been doing is getting a gun license, learning firearm attack tactics, learning to deal with explosives. Everything I believed in turned out to be wrong.

Even as of now, my brain continues to search for alternative solutions. If there are none, I will be deleting this post at least a couple of days before I go, and format the hard drive. And if there will be a copy archived, please do not repost it anywhere, as it may potentially harm people I care about just by the matter of association. I am still searching for other ways; I just don’t see them, and this is the last resort, nothing else. I still feel disgust towards violence. And I don’t want to bring woe to my partner, or my parents, or my brother and sister, but… what can I do.

I always hated the historical periods that are just bloodbaths and nothing else, as I thought many of the deaths were useless, and amounted to nothing, and as they didn’t affect the events, not really, they could just as well be avoided, but they couldn’t, because of reasons that cannot be excused. I still feel this way, but now I feel that sometimes it is just how things turn out. Everybody else has to be strong, get together, overcome the hard times and move on; some people will become legends and move history forward; but there are always people who are just “destined” to become bloody puddles. The meaningless red background that affects nothing, but makes everything a bit more colorful. It just happens.

“It’s not bad, once you stop feeling sorry for yourself because you’re just a pig, or, even worse, a pig infested with maggots. Someone has to be a pig infested with maggots, right? It might as well be you. It’s the luck of the draw. You play the hand you’re dealt.”

Please understand that I am not trying to start any kind of discussion here. Chances are, I won’t be reading any answers because I am far past mental capacity for anything. Even though I accepted that my life is over, it still hurts, please understand and show mercy, I cannot engage in long communication sessions regarding this topic. If you are supporting Ukraine, you are super awesome. Please consider supporting Russian Revolution as well, on any platform. Actively calling russians to rebel, because the government is already actively hunting and killing us, and when the death sentence becomes legal again, they will do so in the open. It is not like they didn’t do this all these years. It’s not like in other countries, where death sentenses can take many years to happen, the process will be conveyored fast. Actively stating support to Russian people who fight over oppression, and those who fight against propaganda. Please consider showing your support to the rebellion; it gives great morale boost; even Zelenskyy does that. Please consider that as platforming statements and opinions is important, and because of how dangerous it became to stand any kind of personal opinion in Russia, many russians feel extremely isolated right now, and it makes brain work in a strange manner, and rips off any sense of objective perspective. If it doesn’t put you to risk, please show some support, as it might save some lives, or bring more people together to rebel. Or don’t do that, that is okay too, as it is cool to live freely and do what you feel is right unapologetically. You are cool as well.

Anyways, thanks for coming to my TedTalk, i’m off to Hell.

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Here’s another one for a limited time.

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I know that this seems like it doesn’t have anything to do with Ukraine, but please consider taking a look at this open letter and spreading the word:

Cutting off the sources to communicate and get reliable information doesn’t do much to Putin’s economy; it was mostly gas and oil anyway. As for now, we use free internet not only to communicate, but also to coordinate protests, information gathering and volunteer work. These are the three things Putin’s regime really hates; it shows in the laws, as protests are illegal, information spreading is illegal (fakes law, war word law), many volunteer organizations are labeled either as extremists, or - more commonly - as foreign agents.

It always took some extra effort to get reliable information in Russia. It was easier for people who know foreign languages, but most people in Russia don’t know English, German or other european languages on a level that makes it possible for them to use foreign information sources. Of course, there is independent media - it’s underground now, but people still work - but they are not magical faeries or Marvel superheroes who can do the right thing just because the right thing needs to be done. Real world stuff, like data services, internet connection etc. is important, too.

It is the same about protesters. As of now, forceful regime change is impossible, because we are outnumbered. It used to be that police was the main force to stop the protests; now the citizens join in. The citizens that don’t know English and don’t have easy access to reliable Russian news sources (read: are not very experienced Internet users, even if they use it on the daily basis) are convinced by the official news that every person who promotes the idea of peace and tries to spread the info is a liar, a traitor and a thief. They also believe that Russia is winning the war, and spreading peace, so they see these growing numbers of people who protest as dissidents. Then, there’s also the fact that a lot of people that do not agree with what’s going on are fleeing the country; it’s a sensible thing to do, especially if you have kids, but it drains the number of people unaffected by propaganda even more.

Free internet and its instruments are our last hope for a forceful regime change. The propaganda is growing the amount of its active followers because it has the information channels; in a country as large and unevenly populated as Russia Internet is the only way for the opposition to do the same. And we do everything we can to grow - while we can.

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It is more obvious in ghetto-like working parts of the city that are fairly common in Russia. It is no longer a matter of “it is possible that people gang up on you and beat you, and you will be in the minority”. It is “you will be beaten up, and you will be the minority.” It is not so bad, because they do tend to run away if you are fierce - they scatter around just as easily as they suddenly gather to kick your ass. But my back keeps hurting, and I’ve got fever, and I can’t go to the police to register the attack which means I cannot prevent these people to beat up someone else.

We, as in either the opposition, or free media supporters, or human rights supporters etc. etc. basically lived in the bubble - until this war. We heavily underestimated the power of propaganda, as we were not influenced by it; it was like a buzz noise on the background for all the other important things like human rights, freedom laws, absolutely crazy stuff like children dying because the government refuses to buy foreign medicine or even let volunteers to purchase it; children dying because the government bans foreign adoption and makes inner adoption ridiculosly hard; children dying because of the inefficient systems; effectively, it’s just a lot of children dying because of the government!! And that is a lot of work, and it just gets incorporated in your dailies just with your regular work, and family, and basic joys like walks, studying, entertainment.

Putin built his system on murders, crime, abuse of KGB, mlilitary and police structures. It was always a forced regime, but this regime also features a heavy propaganda machine, and now, with the last laws applied, it is in full power. My father, who actually came with his whole family to Russia from Ukraine when he was a kid, is a neo nazi now. I wonder if he disowns me at some point. I do not know anything anymore, but I firmly believe that the gate for stopping Putin’s invasion forcefully from Russia is still possible, but for that we need more humans, and for that we need ways to access them. That is all.

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It’s a shame that things are not like Putin says and we are not actual paid anti-Russian traitors; then we’d at least have weapons.

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This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

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I’m not sure where to post this but if anyone is interested in the most current news from multiple sources on a Ukraine map, I found this.

I can even use the time function to see what happened in previous days.

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I got this info from @sewcraftyme :heavy_heart_exclamation: :heavy_heart_exclamation: :heavy_heart_exclamation:

Doctors Without Borders is just a first-rate organization that was already workin in Ukraine and is now figuring out how best to respond to the war there. I’ve seen Doctors Without Borders at work in many war-torn countries and have enormous respect for their courage and commitment. Once when I was fleeing an area in Darfur that I felt was unsafe, they were arriving. They’re the real thing.

International Medical Corps is similar to Doctors Without Borders and also does great work in Ukraine. It has a reputation for staying after the emergency is over to help build local capacity.

Kyiv Independent is a news source in Ukraine that many of us turn to understand the devastation unfolding there. It is raising money through crowdfunding on GoFundMe.

Save the Children is active in Ukraine and has a fund to support kids caught up in the conflict there. It’s a terrific organization and has a network on the ground.

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World Central Kitchen

is what my friends who have boots on the ground in Ukraine and surrounding areas are telling me is doing the most needed work right now.

Hunger is a never-ending problem during any conflict or disaster.

This organization is what my daughter and I are supporting.

Ila in Maine

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The only thing the last 2+ years (and if I had to include a merry car, 7 years) have confirmed to me is the sooner Homo sapiens are wiped from this planet the better. Jeezuz fucking Christ on a rusty bike! Sigh

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I’m sorry you feel this way. I have also felt this way. I like most animals more than most humans.

Still, I can’t agree.

I have too much fabric to make into quilts and other useful items for people in need that have lost everything they own due to a house fire, a flood, or have had to flee a partner who is violent with only the clothes they are wearing.

I’m committed to helping children and some adults learn to read in a Literacy program, and some of them I help learn to speak English since they immigrated here and want to learn to speak it.

I was recently told I will be able to go to a local hospital this summer where I can hold and rock newborns that are born addicted to drugs. I’ve been wanting to do this for so long. I love children and hopefully, I’ll be able to read stories and play games with the older children there a few times a week.

I can no longer work and I feel awful about that and feel useless because I can’t monetarily support my family. I was my job.

The only thing that helps me feel less useless and hopeless is reaching out to others with kindness.

On a purely selfish note, another reason I want to stay around a little longer is that I have so many books to read and with new ones being published every day I will never catch up.

I’m a severe introvert because of the way I’ve been treated by people most of my life. However, if children are in need I can push past that to help them. I feel it is my one good quality.

I don’t mean to preach at you. I don’t know anything about you or what problems you are facing. I can only share what helps me.

Ila in Maine

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Ila, you are so well spoken, and I really appreciate you. I enjoyed reading your post, and it has given me more specific ideas about a few potential activities to consider that I had not been aware of before. God bless you, and we need more people like you on our precious planet.

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Mark

You are much too kind.

Thank you.

Ila

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A new bundle on HB jumped up for Ukraine. 100% of it goes to humanitarian aide for Ukraine.

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Well it’s hard to argue with the value proposition, yet they’re asking for a decent bit of money to buy in. 37€ is not an insignificant amount for many people, I would imagine they’d actually gather more money if they priced the bundle around 10€. I suspect you’d find four times as many people willing and able to participate.

Though time scale is different but that itch.io bundle has raised over $6.3mil thus far, lets see what this one comes in at in a week.

I’m a little confused, the bundle states two different numbers. At the top of the list it states " Pay at least €36.39", in the smaller print under the description it says “Pay €30.58 Or More” and if I put in 30,58 into the pay what I want there is no objection.

ALSO beware, the actual check out page does NOT show the number I manually typed in. So be sure to check that before checking out, or you might donate far in excess what you intended.

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I agree about the price, too. I would love to help out, but I barely got $ myself. I think $20 itself would have been far more suitable, with a rising tier list for those who could put out $40/50. Hopefully though it sells well, so more aide is sent over to Ukraine.

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