“I resolved to support our soldiers in this way”

Bukovyna has been swept with a patriotic fever. People have painted bridges, cars, and fences of their household plots in the colors of the sky and the sun. The 74-year-old Yelyzaveta Baliuk of Chernivtsi has stood out more than any other Bukovyna patriot by painting in blue and yellow... her own house.

It was gray until recently, but now it is the most patriotic house in Chernivtsi region. The woman has planted flowers next to it and wears a church-consecrated yellow-and-blue ribbon on her breast.

Baliuk said that there was nothing strange in her actions, because everyone demonstrates their Ukrainianness as they see it fit. The woman bought the paint at her own expense and hired craftsmen who finished the job in a week. “I am annoyed by apolitical people living according to their reflexes, oblivious to what is happening in this country. Therefore, I resolved to support Ukraine and soldiers who are fighting in the east. People should appreciate their Ukrainian identity,” the old lady said.

Although this “patriotic house” is unnumbered, everyone who walks Zastavnianska Street knows that it is the home of a grandmother who has been a patriot from the cradle.