Kharkiv

Yesterday, we arrived in Kharkiv on a cold, grey morning - wide boulevards, huge squares and some lovely churches, but empty, with shops boarded up and hardly anything open. We couldn't even find anywhere to have a cup of coffee.

And Kharkiv is Ukraine's second largest city. From December 1919 to January 1934, it was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (according to Wikipedia), after which it was moved, partly for geographical reasons, as Kyiv was more central.

We met up with a small team of independent volunteers, who are providing aid to previously occupied villages, north of Kharkiv. They were extremely proud of their city and wanted to show it to us, including the areas damaged by bombing. The city remains under intermittent Russian fire; just the previous day, an apartment was shelled and one person killed. 

Our first impression was that Kharkiv was not so badly affected by bombing, but we were mistaken. We were driven around the city centre and were shown one cultural building after another that had been damaged - these seemed to have been deliberately targeted - including university and government buildings, and a dance centre. One was UNESCO listed. This beautiful building is pock-marked by shelling; part of its roof is missing and only the facade remains..

We were also taken to Kharkiv's industrial area, which has been badly bombed but, remarkably, is still functioning.

We ended up at the workplace of M, who leads this small voluntary organisation with absolute dedication, as described by our young interpreter, who was very proud of her. She told us that M's house was bombed early in the war and she spent weeks living in her workplace, before renting an apartment. Her father is the guard of the building.

It's almost impossible to describe the state of this building and the conditions in which several people are managing to run businesses. You could say it was "Dickensian" -  the building crumbling, dark, damp and cold. M is a seamstress and, when the war started, she turned her skills to making useful items for soldiers...

M's 'neighbour,' as she described him, makes specialised, fashionable car accessories that he exports to Europe, the USA and elsewhere. He also happens to be a very good cook; he served up a lovely lunch to the volunteers, including us, and his workmates in a tiny room. He said that he often sleeps on the couch in this room, when the electricity is off and production stops. So he can make use of the time the electricity is on, whether day or night. In fact, the electricity went off as we were eating our meal.

We were so impressed by the resourcefulness and dedication of these businesses - surviving, despite the havoc and misery that Putin is inflicting. We decided that we would give them one of the generators that were donated to us following our appeal on Radio Lancashire. It's an old generator that may need some attention by people who know what they're doing...

We talked a little about the UK's Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme and the people we helped to move to the UK. The immediate response was.."we are patriotic Ukrainians and would not consider leaving." This is admirable but there is another argument, which is that the Ukrainians who have left are not placing a strain on the already struggling power supply - President Zelenskiy specifically asked those who had left Ukraine not to return, at least until the winter is over. Ukrainians abroad are also sending money home to help their families survive. Adults and children, especially, are learning English and other languages, which, when they return, will help Ukraine's development.

A number of the Ukrainians who have settled in east Lancashire come from Kharkiv  We are glad to have finally visited their city, and grateful to have spent the day with people proud of it and their resistance to Russia. We were also told that Kharkiv is known for its murals...

 

Whilst we were visiting Kharkiv, our Polish friends were delivering aid close to the frontline and, in a very poignant phone call, said, "We saw things that no-one should see" - which  says it all.