OUR COMMUNITY
R
ussian Five (2018)
filmmaker Jenny
Feterovich, a Soviet
Jewish immigrant, is on the
phone day and night orga-
nizing supplies
and medical care
for Ukrainian
civilians stuck
in the middle of
war. One hour,
she’s working on
finding shelter
for nearly two
dozen orphans. Another,
she’s assembling what she
calls a “laundry list” of first-
aid items, like bandages and
tourniquets, for Ukrainian
soldiers and civilians injured
in attacks by the Russian
forces. “I’m getting phone
calls from various groups,”
Feterovich says, “and they’re
saying, ‘I need x, y and z.’
Through our channels, we’re
getting things delivered.”
The Bloomfield-based
filmmaker, who immigrat-
ed to Metro Detroit from
Moscow in 1989, has strong
ties to Ukraine. Her wife was
born in Crimea and lived in
Kyiv for most of her life.
“This is highly personal
to me,” Feterovich, 46, says.
“We have friends, family and
people who work for us [in
Ukraine].”
As part of a global net-
work of people assisting
Ukraine in its fight against
Russia, Feterovich works
with contacts in Germany,
Poland the Netherlands and
more to get people to safety.
“In real time, I’m helping
people either get out, get
situated once they cross the
border or helping people
inside the country,” she
explains. “It’s all-hands-on-
deck.”
THE SITUATION IS
‘MINUTE-BY-MINUTE’
In the city of Kherson, which
became the first major city
in Ukraine to fall to Russian
forces, there is only one man
left baking bread for a popu-
lation of nearly 300,000.
“He’s baking 24/7,”
Feterovich describes. “We’re
on a mission to support him
so he can continue to feed
the people. Unfortunately,
there’s not enough Red Cross
on the ground. It’s regular
people that are trying to
accomplish these things.”
The global network that
Feterovich belongs to was
assembled on a whim, she
explains, going up in a mat-
ter of days ready to assist
millions of Ukrainians
trapped without food, shel-
A global network is sending
Ukrainian civilians supplies,
battling Russian propaganda.
Local Effort
Effecting
Change
Jenny
Feterovich
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jenny Feterovich
at a protest March
6 in Hart Plaza
continued on page 18
16 | MARCH 17 • 2022