Speaker 1: This is Conversationous with Olivia Jade in My Heart Radio podcast.
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, is Olivia Jade. Welcome back to another podcast episode.
Speaker 1: I am really grateful for today's guest. Not only is
Speaker 1: he a really good friend of mine, but I think
Speaker 1: that this episode is so important and it's so fitting
Speaker 1: for what's going on right now and today I have
Speaker 1: Val Schmerkovsky coming on my podcast. He was my partner
Speaker 1: on Dancing with the Stars. He was born in Ukraine
Speaker 1: and he has been doing a lot to help those
Speaker 1: that are in need in Ukraine right now, and it's
Speaker 1: something that you know, a little a little can go
Speaker 1: a long way, and so I want him to come
Speaker 1: on and talk to you guys about what's happening, how
Speaker 1: you can help with you've been curious and um just
Speaker 1: get a little history lesson on why and how this
Speaker 1: is all going down. So with that being said, he's
Speaker 1: welcomed out. What's somebody? How are you good? I'm I'm
Speaker 1: very excited for this episode for the I mean, most
Speaker 1: people are going to be listening to this, but if
Speaker 1: you do see on social media, like the little clips,
Speaker 1: you'll see where Val is right now. And this episode
Speaker 1: is very important because fall is from Ukraine. He was
Speaker 1: my partner on Dancing with the Stars. Everything that's going
Speaker 1: on right now is very near and dear to his heart.
Speaker 1: And I kind of want to let you take it
Speaker 1: away and explain whatever it is you think people should
Speaker 1: know the history how to help what you're doing where
Speaker 1: you are. And I'm going to shut up because I
Speaker 1: don't know anything. So well, first of all, thank you
Speaker 1: for having me, thank you for giving me a chance
Speaker 1: to talk to your audience. I would, and I mean
Speaker 1: that I would all due respect. I would hope that
Speaker 1: people are learning in history books, you know, the things
Speaker 1: you know, world history, not just American history obviously brainwasher.
Speaker 1: This conflict Eastern Europe in general and especially in the
Speaker 1: last century, you know, that's that's world history, you know.
Speaker 1: And uh, I'm just gonna get into it. Ukraine and
Speaker 1: Russia have been neighbors, have been brothers in arms. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go extensive history of like Kivs Carouse, which
Speaker 1: is you know, kind of the empire was one under
Speaker 1: the key of empire a few world back back in
Speaker 1: the day. But let's just talk about the last you know,
Speaker 1: let's say a hundred years. Uh, there was a union
Speaker 1: called Soviet Union, right, and it was fourteen republicans that
Speaker 1: were under under the same flag, um and Ukraine and
Speaker 1: Russia being part of it. Now the Russian language was
Speaker 1: then the main language of all of these republics. Now
Speaker 1: that included Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania. A lot of the
Speaker 1: you know countries that we're very individual, have their own
Speaker 1: individual history that decided to unite together under let's say
Speaker 1: a common cause, but by no means that they become
Speaker 1: one country. They yes, for that time they were let's say,
Speaker 1: one nation under the flag of the Soviet Union, but
Speaker 1: they have extensive individual history and their own languages. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so in just fast forward in nineteen nine and
Speaker 1: started it was official that the Soviet Union fell apart,
Speaker 1: and all these republics gained their own independence. And in
Speaker 1: the last thirty years these republics, with this new found independence,
Speaker 1: a lot of them adopted you know, democratic principles. And
Speaker 1: with those democratic principles came also a lot of pride
Speaker 1: and developing and now adopting back their their history, which is,
Speaker 1: you know, their own language. Let's start with that. Now
Speaker 1: that didn't complicate things. I am a product of with
Speaker 1: some would at the moment consider a complicated situation. It's
Speaker 1: not a company get a situation. I am from Ukraine.
Speaker 1: I'm from a Ukraine. I speak Russian. I speak Russian
Speaker 1: because that was the language that I at the time,
Speaker 1: when I was born, a long, long time ago, was
Speaker 1: still part of the Soviet Union. So I learned Russian
Speaker 1: because that was the you know, the language that everybody learned.
Speaker 1: A lot of people in my city speak Russian, a
Speaker 1: lot of them Ukrainian, a lot of them speak Yiddish
Speaker 1: because they were of Jewish descent. It's a melting pot city,
Speaker 1: you know, just like you know, you go to New
Speaker 1: York City. There's a lot of dialects, but it's still
Speaker 1: New York City, which is part of the New York State,
Speaker 1: which is part of America. UH. Anyway, the point is
Speaker 1: that all of these republics had the right to pursue
Speaker 1: their own independence in the democratic fashion, and that's what
Speaker 1: they did. In Ukraine, because we are speaking about Ukraine,
Speaker 1: did just that. And there were a lot of growing
Speaker 1: pains right in the nineties were really difficult time for
Speaker 1: all of these republics, particularly Ukraine Russia as well. UH.
Speaker 1: But in two thousands and and now in the last
Speaker 1: decade with a new generation of kids that that are
Speaker 1: now united by the Internet and then the world kind
Speaker 1: of shrinking, but we're all adopting each other's cultures were all.
Speaker 1: You know, your generation especially is becoming you know, it's
Speaker 1: kind of leading the this this storm leading the way
Speaker 1: on kind of like not being divided, united by you know,
Speaker 1: just the humanity of it. So um, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: why this is so sad because you know, Ukrainians and
Speaker 1: Russians and not just neighbors, you know, are great. Our
Speaker 1: grandparents lived through the Holocaust together. They you know, they
Speaker 1: fought in World War Two together. The Soviet Union lost
Speaker 1: twenty seven million people in World War Two, seven million
Speaker 1: people that included not just Russians, that included Ukrainians and
Speaker 1: Bela Russians and Lithuanians, Estonians and Armenians and everybod I
Speaker 1: just mentioned. You know, we all fought in that war.
Speaker 1: And so for you know, some of these grandparents haven't
Speaker 1: died yet. For them to see the situation that's happening
Speaker 1: is heartbreaking, you know. And so that's just kind of
Speaker 1: the history of I guess, you know, just because there's
Speaker 1: so much propaganda and fake news and misleading news, if
Speaker 1: you will. Uh. And I'm the type of person that
Speaker 1: always tries to see every angle, right. I think it's important,
Speaker 1: you know, there's never just one side to a debate.
Speaker 1: I think it's important to also be empathetic enough to
Speaker 1: see what the other side is thinking, of feeling, or wanting.
Speaker 1: But I think in this particular case is it's kind
Speaker 1: of very clear. I have to confront my elasticity sometimes
Speaker 1: as well and be like, no, bro, listen, there's also
Speaker 1: some things that are right and some things are wrong.
Speaker 1: This is an unprovoked invasion by a neighbor that feels
Speaker 1: not just invasive, it feels it feels like betrayal, you know,
Speaker 1: it feels like real betrayal because these are cities that
Speaker 1: celebrated Russian artists and and would with respect to Russia,
Speaker 1: Russia celebrated Ukrainian artists. You know, it's they were It's hard,
Speaker 1: you know. I'll give you my example. You know, I
Speaker 1: immigrated to America ninety four, um, and for a long time,
Speaker 1: you know, even with you, you were like, hey, where
Speaker 1: are you from from Ukraine? Where is that? I'm like,
Speaker 1: it's basically near Russia, you know. So you're right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm Russia. You speak Ukrainian, No I speak about Okay,
Speaker 1: you're right. You know, this is a real conversation we had,
Speaker 1: you know, and the truth is, no, I I'm I'm
Speaker 1: Russia speaking Ukrainian. And now more than ever, you know,
Speaker 1: the unfortunate silver line and they came out of this
Speaker 1: is now people know where Ukraine is, and not only that,
Speaker 1: they know the difference. And you know, my sadness is
Speaker 1: apps salutely with the Ukrainian people, absolutely, but it's also
Speaker 1: with the Russian people because unfortunately, these actions are setting
Speaker 1: that country back and isolating that country, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's going to be a long time, but the sanctions
Speaker 1: and everything, you know, it's for the first time in
Speaker 1: a long time. You know. I grew up in this country, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, and every blockbuster thriller, you know, there's always
Speaker 1: a Russian guy trying to take over the world, and
Speaker 1: and I was always like, damn, I has always got
Speaker 1: to be the Russian guy. Um And you know, and
Speaker 1: I feel like there's done a lot of work that
Speaker 1: was done in the last you know, like I said,
Speaker 1: twenty years that finally assimilated Russian culture and tradition into
Speaker 1: into the fabric of the world. And because there's a
Speaker 1: lot of incredible human resource, there's inquiring a lot of
Speaker 1: incredible talent, a lot of amazing people. And you know, this,
Speaker 1: unfortunately is h is a huge leap back. It's not
Speaker 1: a step back, it's a lead back for Russia. And
Speaker 1: and in the most obvious way, it is absolutely devastating
Speaker 1: for Ukraine. Um. But on the flip side, the way
Speaker 1: it has rallied the world behind this country. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting in Portly, New Jersey, a largely Korean neighborhood,
Speaker 1: you know, with with Eastern Europeans and Italians and the
Speaker 1: Spanish community and the Black community, and you know, we
Speaker 1: we this is right outside of New York City, and
Speaker 1: it's a microcosm of what this country is all about.
Speaker 1: And the volunteers that are coming into UH into this
Speaker 1: initiative that we found at here are every single color
Speaker 1: of all ages. This is not a scoulsive East Europeans
Speaker 1: that are coming to help. It's thousands of people from
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, all different cultures. And you know,
Speaker 1: for me, that's been kind of the most um the
Speaker 1: most beautiful thing is that you know, it's it's easier
Speaker 1: to rally around a cause that is you know, touch
Speaker 1: to you personally. Uh, it's much more difficult to take
Speaker 1: the time and and and take your hard earned dollar
Speaker 1: and donate it, or take your time again and volunteer
Speaker 1: or donate a piece of clothing or you know, rally
Speaker 1: behind a cause and a country that is very very
Speaker 1: far away from you, you know, and and doesn't affect
Speaker 1: you immediately. It's it's a beautiful thing that they you know,
Speaker 1: it's I said this to somebody. You know, I haven't
Speaker 1: felt this type of you know, I put I put
Speaker 1: up a flag on my car two times in my
Speaker 1: life because you know, as bravado and extra as I
Speaker 1: can be sometimes, you know, this type of patriotism I've
Speaker 1: only felt twice in my life, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: many times. But like again, I never went as far
Speaker 1: as putting a flag up my car. It was after
Speaker 1: no eleven, after not eleven here driving around the city. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know I had the American flag with pride, and
Speaker 1: and now after this I have you know, I have
Speaker 1: the Ukrainian flag driving around the standardas so. Um, it
Speaker 1: is the incredible situation that we're in and I hope
Speaker 1: you know, yet again, it is the youth. It's it's
Speaker 1: your generation, it's our generation. I guess in some regard
Speaker 1: that has the power to really spread the word. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to you know, I don't
Speaker 1: wanna encourage bullying each other. I don't want any you know,
Speaker 1: further animosity. I just want kids to kind of open
Speaker 1: their eyes and and and do their due diligence and
Speaker 1: if they have the time, maybe maybe you know, kind
Speaker 1: of research and and do their best to to help
Speaker 1: because again, uh, you know, today it's Ukraine, Tomorrow it's
Speaker 1: it's going to be somewhere else, and you know, we
Speaker 1: have to be really you know, we have to just
Speaker 1: really work hard to make sure that we're not going
Speaker 1: backwards and that the next generation is living in a
Speaker 1: world that you know, you're not bombing cities and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, kindergartens and and kids aren't living in bomb shelters.
Speaker 1: It was really personal besides me, you know, looking at
Speaker 1: my heritage in my birthplace and wanting to do something.
Speaker 1: You know, my brother was in Key of when the
Speaker 1: invasion started, and uh, you know, we're all really nervous obviously,
Speaker 1: and he was petrified. We talked about it, and you know,
Speaker 1: he was grateful to get out. But you know he's
Speaker 1: now right back at the Polish border trying to do,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever he can. He's we'll get into where
Speaker 1: I am and what we're doing, uh as far as
Speaker 1: you know, our resources. But yeah, there is a lot
Speaker 1: of sadness still, you know, because it's good that you know,
Speaker 1: we're safe here in the privilege of living in this country,
Speaker 1: but you know, there are a lot of our friends
Speaker 1: and family and peers that are in Ukraine right now
Speaker 1: that are, like I said, in bomb shelters. And I
Speaker 1: think we're getting a little you know, used to hearing
Speaker 1: that word, and we're kind of like, okay, cool, No, No,
Speaker 1: Like you don't know, you don't understand what that is.
Speaker 1: That means you don't have a home and you have
Speaker 1: to hide in the shelter with with nothing there, there's nothing.
Speaker 1: It's not like you're swiping through your you know, Internet,
Speaker 1: and the tension and the fear, you know, so, uh,
Speaker 1: we wanted to do something, you know, I don't I
Speaker 1: don't you know. Um, It's crazy to me the courage
Speaker 1: that it takes for a fellow dancer yesterday, we're you know,
Speaker 1: we're competing at a dance competition today. He you know,
Speaker 1: he picked up an A K forty seven and he's
Speaker 1: you know, patrolling his story like like, that's not I
Speaker 1: don't know if that's the kind of life we wanna
Speaker 1: have in this world. You know, I don't know if
Speaker 1: that should be a reality for anybody that's a young
Speaker 1: man trying to you know, one thing, my mom says like,
Speaker 1: you know, well this was a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: you know, but she was like, you know, the war
Speaker 1: has been going on for now ten days. You know,
Speaker 1: just eleven days ago, these kids went to bed like
Speaker 1: nervous about their test that's coming out, you know, they
Speaker 1: were excited about maybe their wedding day coming up. They
Speaker 1: were grieving, you know, some sort of pain, or they
Speaker 1: were nervous about something else. So they were dreaming about
Speaker 1: getting into their I don't know, like accomplishing that thing
Speaker 1: that they always wanted, you know, or excited to go
Speaker 1: on that date with that boy that they finally asked
Speaker 1: them out. And literally overnight, just all of that shatters,
Speaker 1: and all of that shatters immediately and for the foreseeable future,
Speaker 1: and I just you know, sometimes we look at things
Speaker 1: on TV and is devastating, but we can't understand it,
Speaker 1: you can't feel it. And when you kind of like
Speaker 1: everyday humanize the topic that the subject matter, I think
Speaker 1: it hits home a little bit more, you know, realizing that,
Speaker 1: like these are old people that do all of this.
Speaker 1: They love playing basketball just like me. They you know,
Speaker 1: they like good fashion, they love you know, they they
Speaker 1: love Jack Harlow and whoever else is popping right now
Speaker 1: and Cardi B. Like these are these are kids that
Speaker 1: grew up again. Ukraine has done a tremendous job moving forward,
Speaker 1: moving uh, you know, kind of progressing into the future.
Speaker 1: It has just an incredible again human resource and natural
Speaker 1: resources and history and beautiful cities and architecture. It's a
Speaker 1: country that's over a thousand years old, you know, just
Speaker 1: to put it in perspective, this country's not even you know,
Speaker 1: it's two and fifty years old. It's over a thousand
Speaker 1: years old. There's so much history there, uh, and you
Speaker 1: know it's literally being bombed and leveled as we speak.
Speaker 1: And that's yeah, that's kind of my little feel for you. Well,
Speaker 1: I think it was very informative. Um I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really hard to wrap. Yeah, it's hard because I
Speaker 1: can't even imagine how like I feel a certain way
Speaker 1: about it immediately when I heard about it, just because
Speaker 1: I know you and love you so much, and it
Speaker 1: then it feels personal to me. And then it's like
Speaker 1: when you really sit here and you think about like
Speaker 1: kids and moms and people that were living their daily
Speaker 1: life in their complete normal bubble and now they're in
Speaker 1: bomb shelters like you were saying, and just these terrible,
Speaker 1: terrible situations. It's it's hard to even believe that's where all.
Speaker 1: But you know, like can you imagine a young family,
Speaker 1: like I said, you know, just a short while ago,
Speaker 1: dreaming about their you know, buying their home or just
Speaker 1: just moving into their home, starting their family. And now, uh,
Speaker 1: the guy has to go, you know, the guy has
Speaker 1: to go and serve on the front, you know, being
Speaker 1: a trench somewhere while his wife and kids are refugees
Speaker 1: in a neighboring country if they're lucky, and when they
Speaker 1: do get to a neighboring country, Like the challenges, the
Speaker 1: just the everyday challenges. I I don't want to again
Speaker 1: paint this, you know, gloomy picture but we start to
Speaker 1: celebrate when we see kids be accepted by these countries
Speaker 1: as refugees, and it is a beautiful thing and it's
Speaker 1: a testament to the world for opening it his doors
Speaker 1: to the Ukrainian people. But then once they're there, like,
Speaker 1: let me just put it in perspective, it's like, now up,
Speaker 1: you know, where's that? What are we doing? What language
Speaker 1: are we speaking? What do I do? I'm a professional engineer,
Speaker 1: Like do I go and clean somewhere or like like,
Speaker 1: which is also a noble job, but it's like even
Speaker 1: that job is scarce. Like we also live in a
Speaker 1: tough it's tough for everybody, not just Ukrainians. But you know,
Speaker 1: to add this, it's like you look around and you know,
Speaker 1: the ego, the pride, for get the ego, but just
Speaker 1: like self respect, you know, you kind of it just
Speaker 1: it just kind of it shatters everything at every level,
Speaker 1: war in general, and it's just that's where we ad
Speaker 1: And I never thought that, like after two years of
Speaker 1: a pandemic, you know, this would be now this this
Speaker 1: other hurdle for the world to kind of try to swallow.
Speaker 1: Ye do you kind of want to talk about the
Speaker 1: President of Ukraine a little bit because I I was
Speaker 1: fascinated when you were talking to me. And also fun
Speaker 1: fact he won Dancing with Stars in Ukraine, right yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: So this guy, you know, he was an amazing actor, artist,
Speaker 1: comedian in particular, UM who got a degree in economics.
Speaker 1: I believe economics. Don't call me on that, but he
Speaker 1: you know, he's an educated man, right uh, but pursued
Speaker 1: the arts and was really good at it, really you
Speaker 1: know charismatic. Um as a celebrity, right like in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: he was, he's a celebrity. Yeah, yeah, he was. He
Speaker 1: was a celebrity in Russia too. He was a celebrity
Speaker 1: in Ukraine and in Russia he was celebrated, you know,
Speaker 1: the celebrity, but he was. He was a very well
Speaker 1: respected artist. And in two thousand and six he actually
Speaker 1: competed in the Ukrainian Dancing with the Stars and one
Speaker 1: just to kind of like full circle moment for me
Speaker 1: to just kind of get a little attachment to the guy.
Speaker 1: But yeah, he he's a fellow Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 1: an alumni, UM and he actually you know, he came
Speaker 1: out with the show that where he you know, he
Speaker 1: built his notoriety and then he came out with the
Speaker 1: show where he actually plays a president, and the whole
Speaker 1: concept of the of the show was that this regular guy, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, within the turmoil of the country and a
Speaker 1: lot of corruption and political corruption and unrest. Uh, this
Speaker 1: regular everyday guy um runs runs for office. I mean
Speaker 1: it's more complex than that. But somehow he ends up
Speaker 1: being in this campaign, you know, for for office and
Speaker 1: he wins you know, short along story short, and it
Speaker 1: was such a popular show and it was just you know,
Speaker 1: I guess again. Ukraine has been through a lot of
Speaker 1: growing pains politically and uh, you know, it had a
Speaker 1: revolution in two thousand and fourteen, and had a revolution
Speaker 1: in two thousand and four before that thousand and eight. Uh,
Speaker 1: and then in two thousand and fourteen, Uh, there was
Speaker 1: a huge again the people rose up to their government.
Speaker 1: It was a huge again revolution that was that was
Speaker 1: led by the people to have a democratic process because
Speaker 1: they didn't believe in their representation. Uh, and there was
Speaker 1: a lot of corruption and uh, they fought for their
Speaker 1: democratic right to elect their president. And so you know
Speaker 1: that a show about the everyday man rising to the
Speaker 1: occasion and with humility and no political agendas or rather
Speaker 1: there no you know, I guess no option attached to
Speaker 1: the history of his political career. Um. This this everyday
Speaker 1: man gets elected and he becomes a national hero and
Speaker 1: then he does a good job as president, etcetera. And
Speaker 1: it was such a popular show that as a like,
Speaker 1: people online started kind of messing around with him and
Speaker 1: and going like, yo, you should actually run for president
Speaker 1: because he's an off camera he you know, he loved
Speaker 1: his country. Is his grandfather, you know, fought in the
Speaker 1: Great War, um, and you know, he comes from a
Speaker 1: family of military men, you know that served Ukraine, so
Speaker 1: he has a lot of pride in Ukraine and being there,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, it went viral, this this kind
Speaker 1: of like the notion of him actually running for office
Speaker 1: because again, the people were exhausted of politicians and you know,
Speaker 1: career politicians, if you will, with certain agendas, self serving agendas,
Speaker 1: and and one thing led to another they kind of
Speaker 1: like volunteered him into into, you know, run for office.
Speaker 1: And in Ukraine it's a little different how it goes.
Speaker 1: There's multiple parties, it's not just a two party system
Speaker 1: like in America. And uh, you know, he kind of
Speaker 1: ran as under his and and then the slogan was
Speaker 1: the same as in the show, and uh yeah, he
Speaker 1: kind of ran under a very like a similar brand,
Speaker 1: if you and he passed the first round of elections
Speaker 1: and people were like, oh, shoot, like this and people
Speaker 1: really rallied and he won by like sevent like sev
Speaker 1: which is unbelievable, you know, but he was revered and
Speaker 1: loved and and then again he stepped into the office
Speaker 1: and I guess two thousand nineteen, I believe, and my
Speaker 1: man was hit with the pandemic, you know, and and
Speaker 1: rallied his country out of that, and then and now this,
Speaker 1: you know, and and the way he's you know again,
Speaker 1: if you turned on the news or you've been following
Speaker 1: the story, I mean, this man has really rose to
Speaker 1: the occasion. You know. His his famous quote that I
Speaker 1: guess went around the world is America. I guess called
Speaker 1: him to to help extract him from the country when
Speaker 1: the invasion started, and h he said, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't need a ride, I need an ammunition. Uh. And
Speaker 1: so you know, he's he's hunkered down and he's with
Speaker 1: the people. And you know, when you're fighting a bully
Speaker 1: that's overpowering and oversized and overmatched, when you're all out overmatched.
Speaker 1: I guess is the word morale is huge. You know
Speaker 1: when they say it's not it's not the dog, it's
Speaker 1: not the size of the dog in the fight, as
Speaker 1: the size of the fighting the dog. Like this is
Speaker 1: a perfect example, opinions are you know, really you know
Speaker 1: they have a reason. You know, they have the morale
Speaker 1: because there is no reason for Russian military to be there,
Speaker 1: no real reason for them is going to go in
Speaker 1: there and there. You know, like I said, they're the
Speaker 1: military is is winning on the ground, and he's leading
Speaker 1: the way in a lot of ways. Unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 1: the skies are open and the bombs are falling, and
Speaker 1: you know, this is very little that they could do
Speaker 1: about that. But you know, otherwise this is you know,
Speaker 1: the entire world kind of mobilized in their defense. And
Speaker 1: you know, hopefully they you know, hopefully kids and people
Speaker 1: and the guys in Ukraine know that they were all
Speaker 1: behind them and we're all going to continue to support
Speaker 1: them as long as they need us. And yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, it's I think it's really yeah, it's really
Speaker 1: admirable that. Um. I often think about when if I
Speaker 1: think if a US president, if we were going to war.
Speaker 1: Do you think a president in the United States is
Speaker 1: going to step up and fight or they're going to
Speaker 1: get like Matt security and hidden. And it's just it's
Speaker 1: it's it's really incredible. But I mean, he's he's yeah,
Speaker 1: he's in the Capitol, and and he is the number
Speaker 1: one target too, Like they are specifically saying that we're
Speaker 1: we're going for him. This is who we want, you know.
Speaker 1: And uh, he's not fleeing. He's there, he's fighting, and
Speaker 1: he's giving hope to to an entire nation that again,
Speaker 1: just five years ago looked at him as a as
Speaker 1: an actor and a comedian and now they're looking at
Speaker 1: him as as the leader that they never thought they
Speaker 1: needed but they needed. And I you know, it's not
Speaker 1: it's it's very specific to him because I don't know
Speaker 1: how many other presidents, even in Ukraine, not just in
Speaker 1: this country, around the world, how many presidents would would
Speaker 1: you know, stick around to to be there in the trenches.
Speaker 1: But that's you know, hopefully he doesn't become a martyr,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's the things that we celebrate people
Speaker 1: after they die and we hold them off and we
Speaker 1: celebrate them. Hopefully he he lives to get a chance
Speaker 1: to leave this country in a peaceful time and lead
Speaker 1: it in the in the right direction. Okay, guys, we
Speaker 1: are taking a quick pause at this point in the episode.
Speaker 1: Please tune into the next episode for part two with
Speaker 1: val and to hear more very very important and interesting
Speaker 1: and crucial information on how to help personal stories. And yeah,
Speaker 1: just make sure you tune in because the next half
Speaker 1: is also really special. So um, we'll chat to you then.