Tuesday and Sunday afternoons
Tuesday is usually my day off. Sometimes there are work meetings but last Tuesday I did normal things, like getting my hair cut and going shopping. It was a warm, sunny day and I spent most of the afternoon sitting on my porch. Although you can hear the sound of traffic, you can also hear birds and insects, and it felt lovely and peaceful. That is, until about 5 pm when I heard the first drone flying past. It continued to sound very close so I went inside, then heard and felt the ground-shaking blast of an explosion. Russian drone strikes continued, sporadically, throughout the evening and overnight on June 10, until the early morning: 26 drone strikes. There was widespread destruction and several injuries but no deaths reported. But on the previous night (June 9) a missile attack on nearby Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region, killed three people, including a 22-year-old woman who was 7 months pregnant.
The sound of a drone is unmistakable. Some people say that it sounds like a lawn mower or a motorbike, but you don't get those flying overhead. To me the sound is like nothing other than what it is - my closest description is that it's like a giant, loudly buzzing, menacing insect.
One of the drones hit a residential building in the street adjacent to mine, which I passed on my way to a Yoga class that evening. Smoke was billowing from the top storey...
Unusually for Kharkiv, the explosions must have spooked a few people as there were only a dozen of us in the Yoga class, rather than the usual packed studio of 30 people.
The air smelled like smoke the next morning.
I saw photos of damage done to a beautiful church, built above one of the city parks, Саржин Яр (Sarzhyn Yar) - photos before and after...
Today, Sunday, I had another unexpected day off and, as it was a beautiful day again, I walked through Sarzhyn Yar, set in a 12 km-long valley and known for its mineral water spring. My plan was to have an ice cream in my favourite restaurant, opposite the church that was damaged, a place with fairly basic snack food but a lovely view of the park below (see title photo).
At the top of the steps I saw that it was the restaurant, not the church, that bore the brunt of Tuesday night's drone attack. The restaurant building is damaged beyond repair, it seems; the outside area where we sat, overlooking the park, is a screened-off mess of rubble.
Seeing this made me very sad. I've seen a lot of bomb-damaged buildings in Kharkiv and elsewhere. But none have touched me personally, like this one, because of the associated memories. This must be the case for so many Ukrainians - as well as the death of loved ones, the loss of places that had meaning.
Coincidentally, as I started writing this post, again sitting on my porch in the late afternoon, I heard a huge explosion at 5:45 pm, followed shortly afterwards by two more; at 6 pm, the sound of emergency vehicle sirens; 6:45 pm - several more explosions and then some more. But a woman in one of the apartment buildings continued to hang out her washing and went on to do some gardening. The all-clear sounded at 8:30 pm.
At times like these we're lucky to have beautiful, peaceful places, as yet mostly untouched by the war, such as the lily pool in Central Park, with frogs in abundance.
Hell's Kitchen
As well as making food, Hell's Kitchen is involved in collecting and delivering humanitarian aid. Ed, our foreign volunteer coordinator, helped deliver sacks of flour and other goods to a village in Kharkiv region.
A week ago we had our quarterly "Deep Clean Day" when we don't prepare any food or bread, but clean the kitchen from top to bottom. At least some of the cleaning could be done outside as the weather was good.
Likewise, vegetable preparation has moved from inside to outside, where we have the company of the Hell's Kitchen cats! Volunteers, almost universally, seem to like cats. I have no explanation for this phenomenon.
We love the amazing lack of uniformity in the vegetables in Ukraine!
A group of the Ukrainian Kitchen volunteers has just returned from a week's holiday in the beautiful Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine, organised and paid for by Jos, one of our Alumni volunteers, who made the same generous arrangements last year. There has been an impact on the staffing of the Kitchen and the foreign volunteers here have tried to fill some of the gaps. But there is no doubt as to the enjoyment of the holiday and the benefit to the volunteers who were selected to go - the youngest to the longest serving.
Ed and I feel that foreign volunteers have become a more integral part of the Kitchen staff, rather than being a separate group with distinct tasks - preparing vegetables, making bread rolls, and washing pots and pans. Now, volunteers are involved in anything from assisting volunteer drivers and helping with deliveries, to preparing salads and making meatballs.
This is a common message from Liuda, our lovely Kitchen manager and joint owner: "Fionochka, I need your help 🙏" It's always a welcome message because we're all here for the same reason, which is to help as much as we can. Over the next month we'll try to ensure that we have enough volunteers to plug the gaps due to two of the Ukrainian kitchen ladies taking holidays to see relatives abroad - so many of the Ukrainian volunteers have family members dispersed across Europe as a consequence of the war.
Yesterday (Saturday) was a long day in the Kitchen. I am head baker on Saturday so I go in at about 08:30 to prepare the bakery area and start mixing the dough for the first batch of 180 rolls. Finishing time depends on how many batches of rolls are in today's order, and also when we can use the oven because the meat, potatoes and other food for the day's meals are cooked first. Yesterday it was nearly 12:30 by the time I could put the first of 5 batches of rolls in the oven. By the time they were baked, cooled and put into bags for delivery, it was after 5pm and all the other volunteers had left. Liuda asked me if I could stay behind for 10 minutes whilst she went out so I sat outside with a cup of tea. Liuda returned and presented me with a bunch of flowers, a beaker of lemonade and a piece of cake. This little act of kindness and appreciation means more than I can describe.
Some of our volunteers went climbing this evening...as if they don't have enough challenges!
9:25 pm - another siren sounds..
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and thanks, also, for comments.
To make a donation to the regular causes I support, please open PayPal and, when asked for email, enter sunflower_house@hotmail.co.uk
You can specify where you would like your donation to go, including whether or not you wish to support a civilian only cause; otherwise I will send the money where I think the need is greatest:
The Adults for Children foundation in Kharkiv supports children and families affected by war, through humanitarian aid, including food and medicine. They focus on psychological rehabilitation, educational initiative and creating safe spaces for children's development.
https://instagram.com/adults_for_children?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Hell's Kitchen cooks daily, nutritious meals and bakes bread, for hospitals, wounded soldiers and others in need.
https://hellskitchenukraine.org/
Franklin, former Hell's Kitchen foreign volunteer coordinator, supports soldiers and medics on the frontline. PayPal: bearstateteacher1@yahoo.com
Inna runs a small group of volunteers who make camouflage nets, ghillie suits and stretchers. Paypal: moreman@3g.ua
I support an apartment community in Kherson.
If you would like to donate to a charity that supports animals - Animal Rescue Kharkiv. https://www.animalrescuekharkiv.org/
🐾 Kharkiv Paw Crew runs a shelter for horses and dogs.
Good blog as always, posted to the usual sites, love from your proud brother, take care xxx
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