The Last Night at Home: Why We Choose to Stay in Ukraine

Kyiv has many so-called panel buildings – multi-apartment blocks. These were constructed from the end of World War II until the final days of the Soviet Union. They were cheap and quick to build, but the quality was poor. In fact, they were made of prefabricated concrete panels produced in factories. A building made of these panels is somewhat like a house of cards – not made of paper, but of concrete. Such buildings can stand for decades, but they can also be easily reduced to rubble by a ballistic missile.

This has happened before – from the very first days of the full-scale invasion. And it happened again last night in Kyiv, on 17 June 2025. As a result, 15 people were killed, and nearly 100 were injured in Kyiv alone.

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UPDATE:

The parents in the photo spent the entire day waiting for their son. In the evening, his body was recovered from the pile of debris that just 12 hours earlier had been their home.

Later today, the Russian Ministry of Defence declared that all military targets had been successfully hit.
One might reasonably ask: why don’t people leave?

There are many answers to that question. In many cases, people simply don’t have the financial or emotional strength to start over in another city or country. It’s incredibly difficult to find a job in Ukraine right now. So people weigh their options: move to another city, pay rent, and risk being unable to find work – or stay in their own apartment with minimal utility costs and hold on to their current job. What would you choose?

Some are young and willing to take the risk. But for many, it’s an overwhelming challenge. So they stay, in whatever homes they have left.

If you hear an air raid siren once a month, it might feel like a strange event – even a game. You might go to the bomb shelter for 2–3–5 hours at night and feel like it’s an adventure. But if this happens 10–15 times a month or more, and you still need to work and make a living, you have to keep your body and mind functioning. For that, you need to sleep – maybe not in your bed, but at least on the floor in a hallway. You must sleep. Otherwise, you collapse.

But for some people, last night was their final night. The last night in their home, completely destroyed by a neighboring country that claims it’s “liberating” us from Nazism. In truth, they are trying to liberate Ukrainians from life itself – from our peaceful cities, and from our values of freedom and dignity.

My family and I (I’m the CEO of Copperpro) have the financial means and the courage to move abroad and start over – leaving behind everything we’ve built, everything we own, and everyone we work with. But our business will not survive for long without us. More importantly, leaving is not acceptable to me. If we leave Ukraine, we won’t just be leaving behind our colleagues – we’ll be abandoning the soldiers who are fighting daily for our people, our values, and our country.

It’s easy to walk away from the cruelty of war and find peace somewhere in Europe or elsewhere. But if our soldiers fall – and without support, that is a real risk – what will happen to peaceful Europe?

For me, the answer is very clear.
At Copperpro, one of our core values is caring for people – ensuring fair wages and good working conditions. We are here to support our team and to support our heroes. We express our deepest gratitude to all Copperpro friends who choose to support Ukraine by buying Copperpro distillers.

Yours sincerely,
 Yurii Zhukov and the Copperpro Team
P.S. All sales until 20 June will be donated to the families who lost their loved ones and their homes in the Russian missile attack on 17 June.
 P.P.S. If you are willing to support Ukraine by sharing this message with your friends and loved ones, we will be immensely grateful. You may also consider donating to trusted charitable funds – the same ones our team supports.

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UPDATE:

28 dead, more than 140 wounded: search and rescue operation completed in Kyiv - Ministry of Internal Affairs

It lasted more than 39 hours. Unfortunately, 23 bodies were recovered from the rubble at this location alone.