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Transcript/ScriptLITHUANIA UKRAINE SUPPORT
HEADLINE: In Year Two of Russia’s War on Ukraine, Lithuanians On Guard
TEASER: Lithuanians see in Ukraine what could happen to them and persist in
grassroots efforts to support their homeland
PUBLISHED: 03/15/2023 AT 8AM
BYLINE: Ricardo Marquina
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Vilnius
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricardo Marquina
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:09
VID APPROVED BY:AR
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: For production Wednesday. English narration by Jonathan Spier.
Send edited script to marquina.ricardo@gmail.com ))
((INTRO))
[[Lithuania, a country that feels directly threatened by Russia, had warned for decades
of Russian aggression against its neighbors. Now Lithuanians worry that what is
happening in Ukraine could also happen in Lithuania. Ricardo Marquina reports from
the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, that ordinary people are keep up grass-roots efforts to
support their homeland. Jonathan Spier narrates.]]
((NARRATOR))
On the outskirts of Vilnius, men volunteer to build stoves out of old car tires.
These portable stoves are going to travel to Ukraine, where they will be an essential
support in the last weeks of winter.
[[RADIO VERSION: Viaceslavas Mickevicius is one of the promoters of this initiative.]]
((Viaceslavas Mickevicius, Volunteer - MAN IN RUSSIAN volunteer, ORIGINAL VOA))
“Fifty percent is aimed for the military and the rest is for the people who lost their house
and live somewhere in the barn. Or live where there is a root cellar available, so it will
go for them.”
((NARRATOR))
These men, who work in their spare time, with their own tools and finance the delivery
of the stoves to Ukraine, are just one example of Lithuania's willingness to continue
supporting Ukraine, one year after the start of the war.
Lithuanian direct aid to Kyiv amounts to more than 700 million dollars, of which 257
million are military aid.
The UN says 75,000 Ukrainians currently live in Lithuania, which ensures that the
majority of refugees get their own homes. Lithuania’s government is promoting the aid
program as a nationwide, grass-roots effort.
[[RADIO VERSION: This is what Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian
parliament, told VOA.]]
((Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Parliament Speaker, WOMAN IN ENGLISH, ORIGINAL
VOA))
“People are actually doing what they can on an everyday basis be it opening your home
to sort of host war refugees or giving some money to crowdfund Bayraktar, which
Lithuania was the first one to do.”
((NARRATOR))
Lithuania’s economy is classified as middle income, on par with that of EU partners like
Spain or Portugal, offering opportunities to a group of refugees more inclined to look for
work rather than live on charity.
That, observers say, has helped Lithuanians maintain their willingness to keep helping
as the war drags into a second year.
Another mitigating factor is that many Ukrainians speak Russian.
[[RADIO VERSION: Urtė Petrulytė is a volunteer at the Order of Malta Relief
Organization.]]
((Urtė Petrulytė, Order of Malta Relief Organization* WOMAN IN ENGLISH, ORIGINAL
VOA))
“I think that Lithuanian response both societywise and institutional organization-wise
was very welcoming. So, to get a job even, I think up till now, for Ukrainians it is easy
because they know Russian language, a lot of people speak Russian language here as
well.”
((NARRATOR))
Another type of refugee has found a home among the halls of Lithuanian museums.
Ukrainian-owned artworks were sent here to escape Russian bombing and looting, like
in the Kherson Museum.
[[RADIO VERSION: Edmundas Jakilaitis is a well-known Lithuanian journalist who is
promoting this initiative.]]
((Edmundas Jakilaitis, Journalist - MAN IN ENGLISH, ORIGINAL VOA))
“When Ukrainians came back, they saw that in the National Museum of Kherson there
was no painting! They have stolen everything!”
((NARRATOR))
Other works by Ukrainian artists have also found their home here, some coming straight
from the front.
[[RADIO VERSION: Arūnas Gelūnas, Director of the National Museum, shows us the
works brought from Ukraine.]]
((Arūnas Gelūnas, Lithuanian National Museum of Art - MAN IN ENGLISH, ORIGINAL
VOA))
“We have twenty icons painted on the boxes meant for bullets. Can you imagine that?”
((NARRATOR))
A year of horror - the worst conflict in Europe since the Second World War - has given
way to a second. On the streets of Lithuania, there is yet no sign of fatigue.
((For Ricardo Marquina in Vilnius, Jonathan Spier,
VOA News.)
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Vilnius
Embargo DateMarch 15, 2023 20:59 EDT
Byline
((For Ricardo Marquina in Vilnius, Jonathan Spier,
VOA News.))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
