Winter - Stryiskyi Park refugee centre

We visited the refugee centre to see what conditions are like now that winter has set in. The intention was for these 'pods,' which each house 4 people, to be taken down before winter as they weren't built for cold conditions. But refugees have nowhere elsewhere to go so electric heating has, somehow, been provided and there is a generator as a backup during the regular power cuts that are now part of life (2 today of several hours).

So, conditions for these people are better than those in the areas of the country that have no heating or water, but they're still pretty hard. There is a family of four living in one of the pods, who have been waiting over 10 weeks for their UK visas. There is a lovely flat waiting for them in Cambridge; the stress of the wait and the environment is causing the mother's hair to fall out.

Recently, we have had a number of small donations which, together, mean that we can buy a 2-ring electric hob for the Polish-run mobile unit where people who live in these pods cook. They currently have 2 of these hobs for approx 300 people so this will really help. And they have a generator for when they lose power.

Today, we also had a thank you and a photo from the refugee hostel in Lviv, where we left 2 gas stoves a couple of weeks ago, also bought with donations.

When we returned to our apartment at lunchtime there was another power cut, all the shops were closed, traffic/pedestrian lights weren't working and there were more people than usual on the street. We became aware that we had somehow 'missed' a siren and there had been another bombardment from Russian missiles, which left at least 6 people dead, including a 17-year-old girl, and the whole city of Lviv without electricity.

Putin was not content with killing a newborn baby in a missile attack overnight on a maternity ward near Zaporizhzhia. It was incredibly 'lucky' that there was only one mother and baby on the unit at the time. Health facilities are protected under international law and should be “safe havens in times of crisis and conflict.” This means nothing to Putin.

Amazingly, the damage to energy infrastructure has been repaired  and we have the power back in Lviv. The loss of  lives and the lasting trauma cannot be repaired. We still wonder how long the West will keep fighting this war by proxy. The horrors perpetrated by Putin can either be accepted or confronted. There is a hard choice ahead.

If you can help, please donate in the usual way:

1. Open PayPal and, when asked for name of payee or email, enter trawden4ukraine@hotmail.com. 

2. Use the collection box in Trawden community shop. 

Thank you.