The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been – and continues to be – a tale of two sides: bombardment from the East and help from the West.
As the rest of the world has observed the destruction online and on TV during 20 days of conflict, Banda Agency has been documenting events from inside Ukraine.
The Kyiv-based agency first put out a plea asking people to #standwithukraine, emphasising the human cost of Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Now it wishes to thank its allies for their support.
"Our closest neighbours 'tank' us, we tell our other neighbours “thank you”’, says the opening of the slide-show film, before shuttering through various people the agency wishes to pay gratitude to.
Thank yous are given to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher for donations, for the £13m the pair raised to aid victims of the conflict; to the people of Berlin for demonstrations; and to tech tycoon Elon Musk after SpaceX sent more Starlink terminals to Ukraine, providing internet service where it is unreliable or unavailable.
Banda Agency goes on to recognise the "Polish moms" who brought strollers to the border; the International Monetary Fund for its $1.4bn in emergency financing support; and the volunteers who joined the Ukraine army.
Even UK prime minister Boris Johnson gets a shout out: “Boris, your Ukrainian is charming,” reads the voiceover, against a clip of Johnson saying "Slava Ukraini" (Glory to Ukraine).
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