“We need to help Ukraine, and you just talk”: “war alumni meeting”: the heroes of the resonant Israeli TV broadcast met for the first time in 4 years

The story of a short phrase that was broadcast live on Israeli television in the early months of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has received an unexpected continuation. The heroes of that very video — Ukrainian soldier Stanislav Starostenko, Israeli journalist Dov Gil-Har, and broadcast participant Maria Pisarenko — met together for the first time after the events of 2022.

This meeting effectively became a public return to one of the most emotional moments at the start of the war, which then spread across social networks and became a symbol of the sentiments of Ukrainians in the early days of the invasion.

How a phrase from a live broadcast went viral

Emotions of war live on air

It refers to the moment when Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman Stanislav Starostenko abruptly interrupted the Israeli journalist with the words:
“We need to help Ukraine, and you just keep talking.”

The video instantly went viral — it was spread by Ukrainian, Israeli, and international media. For many viewers, this remark became a concentrated expression of the state of society, which at that moment was experiencing shock from the invasion and daily shelling.

Four years later, in February 2026, the participants of that broadcast met again in a joint broadcast and discussed that conversation with the distance of time and experience of war.

ארבע שנים לפלישה הרוסית לאוקראינה: כשסטאס פרץ לריאיון של @DovGilHar עם מריה ברחובות קייב בראשית המתקפה עם נבוט ביד – נוצר סרטון ויראלי. היום הם נפגשו שוב, וסיפרו איך המלחמה שינתה את חייהם#מהדורתכאןחדשות עם @talberman pic.twitter.com/CQ7NUVzbPU

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 24, 2026

Starostenko explained that his reaction at the time was absolutely sincere.

According to him, anger was inevitable: war had come to his home, and Russian troops were killing Ukrainian civilians daily.

“Why was I angry? Because damned orcs invaded my home. Why should I have been joyful?” he said during the broadcast, emphasizing that these feelings have not disappeared.

What has changed after three years of war

Maria Pisarenko, who in 2022 helped journalists work in Kyiv, today holds the position of press secretary for Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. She noted that the very video unexpectedly became a source of support for many people.

According to her, the reaction of society showed that the world saw the true emotions of a country defending itself.

At the same time, ongoing Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure, in her opinion, only confirm the aggressor’s lack of real desire for peace.

When the journalist asked Starostenko about possible negotiations, the answer was extremely direct.

The soldier stated that he thinks primarily about victory, the liberation of occupied territories, and returning home, not about diplomatic formulations. Trust in Russia, he emphasized, no longer exists among Ukrainians.

Such personal stories of war today increasingly become part of the international information space, as regularly reported by NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, highlighting the intersection of Ukrainian and Israeli agendas through the real fates of people caught in historical events.

“Reunion” years later

After the broadcast, Israeli journalist Dov Gil-Har ironically called the event a “reunion.”

He recalled how the lives of the participants in that story have changed:
Maria Pisarenko — now a representative of the Ukrainian government,
Stanislav Starostenko — an active Ukrainian Armed Forces fighter who became recognizable after that very broadcast.

“Four years after the start of the terrible war. Glory to Ukraine,” the journalist wrote on social network X.

Today, Starostenko serves in the second assault battalion of the 5th separate assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On social networks, he talks about frontline life and shows the daily life of Ukrainian soldiers.

The decision to volunteer came after Russian troops captured his native Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region.

The story of this meeting highlights an important detail of the current war: for many of its participants, it has long ceased to be news — it is a personal story that continues every day.

And it is precisely such moments years later that allow us to understand how people, countries, and the very price of words once spoken change.