Anniversaries

 Early on the morning of 24 February, 2022, Putin announced on state television that Russia will carry out a 'special military operation' in Ukraine, thus beginning the start of his full, illegal invasion. Yesterday there were demonstrations from Amsterdam to Australia, which our alumni volunteers attended and sent photos.

Amsterdam, Netherlands...

Brisbane, Australia...

And today many world leaders have gathered in the capital, Kyiv, to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion. I hope this surge of enthusiasm and support translates into action that will enable Ukraine to continue defending itself, and to be fully involved in negotiating a just peace.

I don't think this poster is exaggerating what's at stake...

This photo of the memorial for fallen soldiers in Kyiv was also taken by a volunteer, today.

Another personal anniversary for me is the day, in March 2022, that my ex-partner and I travelled to Krakow, Poland, with the aim of doing what we could to help Ukraine, including supporting refugees to navigate the complex UK visa sponsorship scheme and move to England. We were in a hurry to get to Krakow because we thought the war may only last a few weeks! We had a sizable number of families in the village of Trawden and the surrounding area, ready to accept Ukrainian families into their homes. Trawden community has remained unwavering in its support for Ukraine since this time.

This is what we found in Krakow - an indescribably large number of human beings, shocked and bewildered, needing food, clothing and shelter, most having come with only the bags they could carry. As one woman put it: "I had a suitcase in one hand and a child in the other. I had to leave the hamster behind." - constantly queueing for basic needs...

I could never have imagined that, three years later, I would be in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, not very far from the frontline, making bread for hospitals and soldiers. When I first moved to Ukraine to volunteer in June 2022, it was to Lviv, which at that time felt like a bold decision!

In Hell's Kitchen we were filmed and interviewed by the "Voice of America" a couple of days ago. The interviewer asked why I decided to come to Kharkiv and to stay, where bombs regularly fall. I said that I'd heard good things about Hell's Kitchen some time ago, having met Franklin when he lived in Liv, and I always thought about coming here. Now I feel that I'm doing really valuable work, I've been made very welcome and I'm part of a community here, which helps when the bombs fall...or something like that! I find interviews difficult.

A differentiated air raid warning system has been put into operation in Kharkiv, meaning that alarms are only activated when there is a direct danger to Kharkiv city, not for the entire region. This is supposed to reduce the number of alarms. It hasn't worked, as yet, or else the number of alarms has increased overall (so far, 6 today). The record for the shortest period between one siren ending (all clear) and another starting (air alarm) was this afternoon: 1 minute! The sound is longer and louder with the new alert system, which is somehow more disturbing. There's a voice message at the end that specifies the type of threat to the city, which I usually can't understand! My Ukrainian war vocabulary, so far, only includes the words for war, explosion, air alarm and all clear. In my wildest dreams I didn't think that I would know the English words for the different ways of killing people from the air - missiles and drones with various names, guided aerial bombs, etc.

Regarding donations, a special thanks to Katya, who I don't know, except that she reads my blog and lives near Chippenham, where my brother lives and posts this blog on a local support for Ukraine Facebook page. Donations, as usual, have gone towards supporting disadvantaged children of families displaced by the conflict and to soldiers. Franklin, volunteer coordinator, is aiming  to get a platoon of troops well-protected with quality thermal underwear and fleece jackets. The weather in the city is still well below zero degrees Celsius, day and night (- 14 tonight) and is not forecast to get above zero for at least another week. With the help of donations, he has ordered 25 sets of thermals and 25 fleece jackets from a local manufacturer, which will be delivered soon.

I will end end this blog on a positive note. People here, mostly, remain hopeful and, to show the indefatigable spirit of Ukrainians and volunteers in Kharkiv - yesterday afternoon, there was a Hell's Kitchen get-together, centring on mulled wine and home-made waffles - maybe a strange combination but delicious. There was also, an amazing looking, delicious dish, which translated something like, "herrings under a fur coat!"

- and elsewhere in Kharkiv there was an impromptu game of ice hocky...

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this morning: “Three years of resistance. Three years of gratitude. Three years of absolute heroism of Ukrainians. I am proud of Ukraine! Thank you to everyone who protects and helps it.”

Слава Україні!

To make a donation, please:

Open PayPal and, when asked for email, enter 

sunflower_house@hotmail.co.uk

These are the causes to which I regularly donate - you can specify where you would like your money to go, otherwise I will send it where I think the need is greatest:

Adults For Children, which supports families displaced by the war.

Hell's Kitchen

Franklin, foreign volunteer coordinator, who supports local soldiers and medics.

Fabric for camouflage netting/seamstress costs 

If you would like to donate to charities that support stray dogs and cats, please let me know.