A day in Odesa

As Bob reported in the early hours of this morning, we witnessed the amazing skill of Ukrainian forces shooting down Russian (Iranian-made) drones. The frightening sound of the anti-aircraft guns, the sight of the red lights tracing across the sky, and the explosion when the drones and missiles were hit, we will never forget.

What we didn't realise, until this morning, was that it was actually Odesa that was being attacked. All the drones and 3 missiles were shot down, but fragments hit an apartment block, causing a fire, which killed 3 people and injured 27, including 3 children. 

This afternoon we drove to a wholesale supermarket on the outskirts of Odesa, to purchase food aid for 40 families in an apartment block in Kherson, mostly women and children - staples such as flour, cooking oil, kasha, tinned meat, pasta and pasta sauce, and, for a treat, coffee, which is expensive here and rarely provided in humanitarian aid. We also bought incontinence products for another apartment community where mostly older people live. Imagine, there are no district nurses or home carers calling in to help people with disabilities,  incontinence problems, etc - all their care is provided by family or friends. And the pads are not cheap, so we don't really know how they manage.

All this aid is paid for with donations we have received, from friends and family at home, and from a very generous donor who has got to know what we do via our friend, Mo, in Lviv. I'm sorry we don't know your name yet, but your support is hugely appreciated. 

We try, but it's impossible, really, to describe how difficult and dangerous the situation is for the remaining people in Kherson, some of them living in areas that seem to receive very little humanitarian aid. They welcome any help they can get.

Another person we don't know, called Georg, has donated some money for the fuel costs of our aid journeys. Although he says that we should never thank him, as we are all fighting for freedom and democracy, we say thank you, anyway. And to all the people who continue to support our efforts here.

On the way back from the supermarket, whilst stuck in traffic, I heard the sound of glass being broken. I looked out and realised that we were driving past the apartment block where 3 people were killed in the drone attack this morning. Glass was being removed from shattered windows, which were then boarded up. It was a sober reminder of the randomness and terrible bad fortune of these attacks. Next door was an apartment block under construction, with no-one living in it.