Leaving on Kharkiv Day

 

23 August is Kharkiv Day, commemorating the city's liberation (after several previous tries) in 1943 by the Soviet Red Army in World War II. Beginning in 2004, 23 August is also National Flag Day of Ukraine.

The following day, 24 August, is Independence Day, dating from 1991 when parliament adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence, freeing Ukraine from the Soviet Union.

I am travelling from Kharkiv to England, to visit my Mum, and other family and friends. I'll be away for a little over 2 weeks, which is not long but it always feels difficult to leave Kharkiv. At least I know that I won't be missed too much in terms of staffing the kitchen, as we have lots of foreign volunteers just now, both new and returning, including quite a large contingent of British volunteers! 3:1 Brits to Americans in these photos!

A number of volunteers choose to increase their volunteering opportunities, e.g. after peeling vegetables in the morning they go to work at the Forge, making trench staples for local military units. I'm informed that the record for staples made on one day is 278, with the 'experts;' current volunteers make just under 200 a day. In recent temperatures of 35°C, it's sweltering work and no mean effort!

One of my friends in England recently asked me how things have been in Ukraine as he hadn't seen any news for a while.

It seems to me that after four and a half years, the methods of causing death and destruction continue to increase. Drone warfare technology developed FPV (First Person View) drones that track down their targets. Russia is increasingly hitting Kharkiv with FPV drones, with more than 80 FPV attacks from May 2026 to August 10. The most dangerous are FPV drones on fiber optics: a glass filament through which communication for control and video is transmitted, which can't be detected as there is no signal unless the fiber optic breaks.

https://suspilne.media/amp/kharkiv/1373770-ak-civilnim-zahistitisa-vid-fpv-droniv-poradi-prikordonnikiv/

Some weapons sound innocuous, such as the one called the 'parcel,' from 'Бандероль' (Banderol) 'small postal packet,' in Ukrainian and Russian, which appeared sometime last year - actually a small Russian cruise missile, launched from an unmanned aerial vehicle from several hundred kilometres, which is difficult to shoot down due to its high speed at low altitude.

There was a Russian strike on Kharkiv with the Banderol on the morning of 26 July. A 40-year-old woman was killed and her 10-year-old son was amongst about 25 people injured. The woman who died and her son had been evacuated to Kharkiv from the frontline city of Kupiansk.

https://suspilne.media/amp/kharkiv/1364352-kamera-sposterezenna-vidznala-moment-udaru-banderoli-po-harkovu-vranci-26-lipna-video/

At least three people were killed in Russian drone strikes on the outskirts of Kharkiv yesterday evening (23 August). Following an attack on the Lozova-Kharkiv train, a woman with 90% burns died in hospital.

https://suspilne.media/kharkiv/1385924-sonajmense-troe-ludej-zaginuli-cerez-udari-po-peredmistu-harkova-sinegubov/

High-speed ballistic missiles are routinely targeting Kyiv, in particular, and Ukraine’s military have run out of US-made Patriot interceptor missiles.

At least 16 people were killed and more than 130 wounded when drones hit a mall in Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine, on Friday.

In July, the last full month for which figures are available, 437 civilians were killed across Ukraine and 2,610 injured, according to UN figures – the highest number recorded killed since May 2022.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/22/russian-missiles-kyiv-ukraine-casualties-mood-darkens

So things are not good, as far as the war goes, but life continues to be vibrant and beautiful in Kharkiv. The decorations in Shevchenko Gardens are as understated as ever!

The streets were thronged with people when I left on the evening of Kharkiv Day.

In the warm, late summer days people who are able to flock to the beaches in Kharkiv, including me, thanks to two new Ukrainian friends! The war seems very far away...

In Hell's Kitchen, Ukrainian and foreign volunteers are working together as hard as ever...

...and we had our traditional end of the month party.

 Donations

Thank you, as always, for your donations; however small, they are always effective.

Another huge thanks to the Trawden community volunteers in East Lancashire, England. So far, this year, they have raised an amazing £916 for Ukraine!  The latest amount of £253 has been sent to Hell's Kitchen, to continue to support us in making healthy nutritious meals for hospital patients, soldiers and other people in need every day.

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:

Hell's Kitchen cooks daily, nutritious meals and bakes bread, for hospitals, wounded soldiers and others in need.

https://hellskitchenukraine.org/

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==

Inna runs a small group of volunteers who make camouflage nets, ghillie suits and stretchers.

Forging Ukraine makes iron trench staples. https://linktree/forgingukraine?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=a51c49f0-5759-478d-8a44-2ce547d5a960

I regularly support an apartment community in Kherson, with basic food and hygiene supplies.

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.

Recently come in - Shevchenko Gardens at night, Kharkiv Day...

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Comments are welcome, either on the blog site itself or by text message.

Comments

  1. LorrainrAugust 24, 2026 at 4:24 AM

    So sad to read your blog yet again with no site of the war ending
    I see on the news we are still giving Ukraine our full support. The pictures you post of such a lovely Country and such a waste of life . Wish you all the luck and hope to see you when you are in Britain

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 24, 2026 at 4:37 AM

    Enjoy a well deserved break and the visit to you Mother Fiona. We look forward to seeing her ourselves in September .
    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 24, 2026 at 4:54 AM

    Thank you for your update. What a strange co location of life going on and celebrations while war is destroying people.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 24, 2026 at 5:08 AM

    Good blog as always but sad statistics, the photos at the end are beautiful, look forward to seeing you soon. Love from your proud brother Steve xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Children

Image
Children across Ukraine have experienced death, injury and deprivation over nearly 4 years of war. As of late 2025, estimates from Save the Children, based on “new United Nations figures,” cite 733 children killed and 2,285 injured since February 2022. The real numbers are likely to be higher, due to undercounting or lack of verification, especially in occupied areas or active-combat zones. April 2025 marked the month in which the most children - 97 -  were killed or injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine . On 4 April, a missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of  Kryvyi   Rih  was the deadliest, single attack on children since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to UN-verified data. The missile hit a residential neighbourhood, striking a playground and nearby apartment buildings, killing 18 people,  including nine children, and injuring 75 others, among them 12 children. Many of the casualties were in the playground. ( https://www.savethechildre...
Read more

Delivering food, by guest editor

Image
Thank you, Fiona, for giving me the opportunity to write in this blog. My name is Thomas and I reside in Guernsey. I am also the recent supplier, as mentioned in Fiona’s last blog, of her Yorkshire Tea!  Recently, I returned to Kharkiv to volunteer at Hell’s Kitchen for the third time. I have always been involved in the Kitchen’s food preparation but, on this occasion, I joined one of the Ukrainian volunteer drivers one morning, to deliver food to the hospitals the Kitchen supplies. It was a chance to see the places where the food we make goes. Fiona wrote about her experience earlier this year of joining one of the delivery drivers to the hospitals and I thought it would be good to share mine. I joined Kirill, one of the Kitchen’s delivery drivers, and visited three hospitals that the Kitchen serves, in different parts of the city. We split this into two journeys: two hospitals in the first load and, in the second load, one larger hospital. The Kitchen supplies food to other hospi...
Read more

Bread and War

Image
On Sunday evening we had a very enjoyable Hell's Kitchen party - the weather was beautiful, we had lots of food and drink, and a giant Jenga game! But later that evening, as we were returning home, a bomb hit the large warehouse where 2 months supply of flour for the Kitchen is kept.  Although the bags of flour were not destroyed, the fire damage was so extensive that it will be unusable.  Liuda and Yegor, the Kitchen owners/managers, are looking at options, whilst hoping that our regular donors will help us to replace the flour. One option will be to significantly reduce the number of rolls we make, e.g. by cancelling hospital bread orders. Because, of course, what matters is that hospital patients receive a balanced, nutritious diet of meat, fish or other proteins, carbohydrates - rice, pasta, potatoes (of course!) etc. - and vegetables. But our rolls are delicious, as everybody says, as well as being filling and calorific, and it would be a real shame to take them away. I c...
Read more