“It’s the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War,” David Naglieri, the film’s director, told CNA Friday.
Almost 18 million Ukrainians are in “dire need” of humanitarian aid, while 14 million have been displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Water shortages have resulted from the disastrous conditions and electric outages spanning the nation, something that the Knights’ leader, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, experienced in his visit to Ukraine in December.
“Things are more difficult now in Ukraine than they were nine months ago,” Kelly told CNA in a December interview following his visit. “And we need to stay the course and continue to help them.”
The 60-minute documentary was shot over the past year, following the Knights of Columbus’ charity work in Ukraine and Poland, including Ukrainian cities such as Lviv and Kyiv, the country’s capital.
In addition to interviews with many Knights of Columbus in both Poland and Ukraine, the film features interviews with Supreme Knight Kelly; Archbishop Borys Gudziak, the archeparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia; Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk; and Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv, Ukraine.