🇺🇦 I wish this episode was about Terraform and other IaC-stuff I worked with a week ago. Please stop reading now if you don't care about the war - I don't blame you, we just don't have it in common, the war is not at your home (I really hope you are reading this in safety like I am now!)

Since early morning on Thursday 24th of February, missiles, tanks, bombs were shot as the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered my hometown (Kharkiv) and since then most of my relatives were in shelters as their houses were fully or partially destroyed. I can't stay outside even after many years of living abroad - this is one of the explanations of what does it mean for me to be a Ukrainian patriot.

If you think that people in Ukraine were brainwashed (and/or fascists) or that we were discriminated against because we speak Russian - look at me, there are millions of us who love Ukraine. Disagree? Stop talking to me from now on.

Since the occupation of eastern parts of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukrainians were growing up the army and were fighting against Russia. It has never been a civil war or other bullshit Russian propaganda was pouring to people.

I appreciate that you are still reading this, so let me reveal how the IT world is fighting with Russian propaganda. The goal I had since the very beginning of it, was to show people in Russia and Belorussia that they invaded Ukraine, we kindly asked them to stop working and make a protest against your tsar Putin. Polite demands from our side didn't help as much as restrict access to their typical resources (DevOops). This was just the beginning, much more to come.

Thank you to all of the supporters who are supporting Ukraine via various funds (Come Back Alive, Red Cross, UNICEF) as well as via local embassies in your country. Together we'll win!

Ukraine has a long way to rebuild because many of our cities were heavily damaged but first, we just need to get rid of the Russian military from our land and, most importantly, air.

How to donate?

There are many global funds but their support will be needed later. For now please donate to the Come Back Alive fund, or reach out to me (links below) if you want to use the employee matching program provided by one of the companies supporting Ukraine (and we all know them!)

More information

There is a lot of false information published by Russians for years but it is important for foreigners to know the facts (simple tip: if website ends with ".ru" - run away from it). Here are some of the resources with good/verified information in English:

• https://war.ukraine.ua/ 

• https://euromaidanpress.com/

• https://kyivindependent.com/

Stay connected

You can follow me on social media where I mostly post about war and how IT giants are helping us:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonbabenko/

• https://twitter.com/antonbabenko 

Wow, you read it all! Here is #terrameme for you!