Photo: Manny Carabel/Getty Images

Ina Gartenhas a personal connection to the situation currently happening in Ukraine.
The Food Network star on Wednesday shared an emotional post on Instagram, calling for the end of the conflict in Eastern Europe while paying tribute to her late grandmother, who escaped from the Russians in Ukraine back in the early 1900s.
“My grandmother came from Odessa in the early 1900sto escape the dreadful pogroms and made a wonderful life for all of us in America,” Garten, 74, wrote, captioning a black and white image of her as a little girl with grandmother and their family. “My heart goes out to everyone who is forced to fight for or flee their homeland because of a horrific war.”
TheBarefoot Contessaauthor went on to say that her grandma “loved to cook and entertain friends.”
“People who knew her say I am just like her,” Garten said, pointing to a dress her childhood self was wearing in the old photograph. “She also brought me that off-the-shoulder dress from Paris, starting my life-long love for that beautiful city.”
She concluded the post with a poignant hashtag, “#stopthewar.”
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
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With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com