DALLAS — Roman Talis, the CEO of Kruto Vodka in Dallas, has been following the news about Ukraine closely.
He's from Ukraine and has family there. His brother-in-law is on the frontline of this war. He also has a home in Kyiv, which he visits often. There are two Kruto Vodka factories in Ukraine with 300 employees, who Talis is worried about. To him, this war hits home.
"Forget about infrastructure. I'm talking about women, children, men dying for no reason. This is Putin's war," said Talis. "We don't want this bloodshed. It's not worth it."
He said this invasion is eerily similar to history in 1941.
"On the 22nd of June [1941], 4:00 in the morning, Hitler bombarded Kyiv. And on the 23rd of February [2022], Putin started bombarding Kyiv. It's a lot of parallels here."
Being away from Ukraine feels helpless for Talis, but he's doing whatever he can from North Texas to assist. His team at Kruto Vodka held a march for Ukraine on Sunday in Frisco. He also has bank accounts to send money back to Ukraine.
Talis never imagined a war like this would happen in his home. He said for so many years, Russians and Ukrainians have coexisted and become family.
"We have a lot of relatives between those two countries, cousins, brothers, sisters. [...] So how is there children or grandchildren pushing a trigger to kill his uncle or aunt? This I will never understand."
While the destruction of his motherland is hard to see, it's the innocent people dying that is impossible for Talis to comprehend.
"What is the cost of human life?" he asks.