A bandstand In Odesa.

This report was in today's Guardian.

"Four civilians, including two in a direct hit to a high-rise building, have been injured by Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson, the prosecutor general’s office said on Sunday.

The attack on the residential area occurred at about 11.20am local time, with Russian forces firing from the occupied east bank of the Dnipro River to attack the city, the Kyiv Independent reports.

The attack also damaged the civilian infrastructure in the city, according to the report.

Kherson oblast, including the regional capital, has been shelled daily by Russian forces from the east bank of the Dnipro River since Ukrainian forces liberated the west bank during the counteroffensive campaign in the autumn of 2022."

There has not been one time when we have been to Kherson, that it has not been shelled. Some areas are even more dangerous than Kherson itself, specifically many of the villages scattered around Kherson. Some are literally pounded every day. A priest was killed the other day in one of these villages. 

We have been asked to take aid to these places. We've thought long and hard about doing this, but finally we have assessed that it really is too great a risk. We are working on finding another solution to get aid to these villages.

This afternoon in Odesa we were treated to a free bandstand concert. A simple ordinary thing for people to enjoy

 

Tomorrow we start our work with the children in the UNICEF tent in Odesa and Tuesday in Kherson. 

In preparation, I had to get my guitar restrung, one of the strings broke, which might have been a blessing to Fiona and the children. However, the strings were replaced in a wonderful guitar shop we found. They charged me all of £2. 

Even better, the two people working there are passionate guitarists. One, a younger man and the person in the photo repairing the guitar. They have invited us back to listen to them playing. The younger one r&b with a gospel twist. The man in the picture jazz. We will certainly return.

Finally, one of my pet hates..... a sight too often seen here in Ukraine. Shiny, clean, expensive UN vehicles doing what they do best.....20 parked behind a barrier in Odesa. Very little.