Stories From Ukraine: Artem Gunko
Meet Artem, Senior People Partner at Preply and the next hero of our series Stories from Ukraine. Despite the war and events of all the energy-draining events in his personal life this year, Artem continues to invest in people’s growth and believes humanity will prevail.
“ On February 24, I was on vacation with my wife and friends. We were close to the border with Belarus, not far from Gostomel, where a fierce battle took place on the same day. The whole day was a huge stress, and we didn’t leave until we saw a plane taken down by the anti-air defense in the sky right above us. That’s when we took the “flight” reaction and spent almost 24 hours driving to Lviv, the city on Ukraine’s west. A few hours after we left, that area was occupied by Russian troops. We arrived in Lviv the next day in the morning. The city “welcomed” us with air raid sirens and complete emptiness. I’ll never forget this moment.
In the first weeks, I couldn’t think about anything except basic questions for me, my family, and my friends: “Are you alive? Are you safe? Do you need anything?”
War has nothing to do with romantic or heroic images that you could see in the movies. It’s a tragic defeat of everything that makes us human.
We live in an era where humanity can pursue so many exciting goals and resolve so many burning problems. I truly believe the war in Ukraine is an important milestone in building the new architecture where the language of love and the value of unveiling human potential become the key global pillars. I wish my homeland wouldn’t have paid such a high price for the global crisis of human values, which made criminal regimes such as Putin’s possible. I also hope that Ukraine’s victory will open a new chapter in the history of humankind, and I’m honored to be a part of it like millions of other Ukrainians.
We all have a “noble dog” and an “evil wolf” fighting inside of us, and the win is taken by the one whom we feed. I’d say everyone needs to make sure they feed the right one through their deeds and thoughts. Then consequently, they’ll find the best way also to help Ukraine, which is undoubtedly fighting against the darkness.”
