Friday...

... UNICEF tent in Odesa at 11:30. Bob is telling a story about a dragon and a little girl with magic powers, making it up as he goes along...which nicely segues into "Puff the Magic Dragon..."


 ...practised in the park. We wish UNICEF could provide new pens and  whiteboard cleaner!

I passed by the cathedral today, as usual - our nearest plastic and glass recycling point is on the cathedral square. Although I think I have a bit of a ghoulish fascination with the site, and also, I still can't quite believe that Putin sanctioned the destruction of Odesa's main cathedral. (The restored cathedral was even consecrated by the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in 2010! Go figure, as they say!)
According to the news, President Zelenskiy visited the cathedral yesterday to view the damage, and so I've missed seeing him yet again! Rubble is still being cleared out of the inside and there are people ripping off the damaged segments of the roof - not much health and safety...

Church services, of a sort, are continuing at the main entrance of the cathedral...

Bob had his English conversation class in the afternoon - a core group of 5, ranging from 14 years old to 30s. Today people discussed their every day irritants, which ranged from the Russians, to public service pay (a teacher earns about £180 per month), to hair blowing in the wind! Afterwards, one of the members of the group showed us a book stall with a very small selection of novels in English. I'm reading a lot more than usual due to nights disturbed by air raids, and I'm on my last book!
Although last night, for the first time in over a week, there were no alerts.
Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, said: “The night was quiet. There was little activity of enemy aircraft. There are not many nights like this. Many Ukrainians had the opportunity to sleep at least. We hope this day will be calm.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Third Christmas of the War.

Image
I remember when we first went to Ukraine, we thought we'd better hurry up and get over there to help before the war finished, and there'd be nothing for us to do. How naïve were we? The situation in Ukraine at present has got even worse, especially in the areas in close contact with the Russian forces, although with the constant Shahed and missile attacks nowhere is safe. Kherson has become particularly difficult, and delivering aid there is a direct threat to life. Any vehicle or person can be targeted by Russian small killer drones. This week, a vehicle that is used to deliver aid that we have sometimes used, was attacked and badly damaged beyond repair. Miraculously, the driver, a person I know survived but suffered injuries.  The occupants of a bus were not so fortunate. It was attacked, 3 people died and several more injured. It's really terrifying.  What's really sick is that the Russian's then post o...
Read more

The killing goes on.

Image
Time diminishes things. News cycles bring new, more pressing concerns. But the war here in Ukraine grinds on, with deaths a daily occurrence. The killing seems to have become more incideous and heartless.This weekend in Kherson, delivering aid, under the fairly constant sound of artillery and drone attacks, I heard and saw the inhumanity of this senseless war. There is now a real tangible fear about going out in your car in Kherson. Over the last few months, individual cars have been targeted by Russian drones. These carry small bombs or grenade type munitions. . A car is targeted. An initial bomb dropped. The man realises he's  being targeted and tries to drive away at high speed. He then stops suddenly, hoping to get away. Opens his door to run away, but about two metres away from the car a small bomb explodes. With the door open, nothing seems to happen, then as in slow motion, a man falls from the driver's seat onto the road. Dead. It...
Read more

Krakow to Lviv

Image
We left Krakow at 3am because we had heard that there have been up to 3 hour waits on the Poland-Ukraine border. The balance has changed to more people returning to Ukraine (to the relatively safe western Lviv region) than leaving Ukraine. As it happened, we drove through the fairly haphazard border controls with no hold up. The first thing we noticed on the Ukrainian side were miles (literally) of lorries lining the side of the highway, which was only 2 lanes so made for fairly scary driving. On the Polish side was an equally long line of parked cars, waiting to be sold. We also noticed more potholes on Ukrainian roads than even East Lancashire! The purpose of our visit to Ukraine is 2-fold: firstly, we drove our friend, Romana, home to Lviv (in her car) with her 4-year-old daughter, as she decided against coming to England in order to be with her husband and family. Secondly, w...
Read more