October 1: Defenders Day in Ukraine

...a day to honour veterans and fallen soldiers.

If ever there was a need for defending...
Russian forces launched 8 missiles, 99 air strikes and 45 multiple launch rocket system attacks yesterday, according to the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Air strikes and artillery fire hit well over a hundred settlements in the Chernihiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

There was another overnight missile and drone attack, across a large part of Ukraine, from various directions, including the Black Sea. I heard several explosions, as the Ukrainian army shot down as many as possible. One person was injured in a drone attack on grain storage warehouses in Uman, which caused fires.
Kharkiv was also hit by 3 missiles, which caused fires.
A 63-year-old was killed in shelling of Kharkiv region this morning, as he was riding his bicycle; elsewhere in the region, a 52-year-old was hospitalised after stepping on a Russian-planted anti-personnel mine in a forest.
A 61-year-old man was killed and a 66-year-old woman was wounded in shelling in the Zaporizhzhia region; night-time rocket attacks wounded 7 people. 

The air raid alert lasted about 3 hours...so not much sleep last night. 

And yet, amidst Russia's attack, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier managed to leave the sea port of Chornomorsk, near Odesa, early this morning. (Photograph: Reuters)


I spent most of this afternoon in the lovely City Garden in Odesa, as the weather is still warm and sunny. There was a military band and singers - a mix of traditional and new...
It ended, in the late afternoon, with the always moving Ukrainian national anthem...

We have had a couple of kind donations since the last blog - one to purchase some art materials for the talented young artist in Kherson. The other will go towards this week's purchase of vegetables and fruit to take to Kherson. Thank you - you know who you are.

If you are able to donate, however small an amount, to support weekly supplies of vegetables and 
fruit and vegetables to Kherson over the coming month, please:

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

Or, if you live in/near Trawden:
2. Use the Ukraine collection box in Trawden community shop.

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