We were lucky...but many were not, murdered at the hands of Putin and his followers by missiles in Chernihiv today.


I haven't written a blog for a long time, and this one starts with more innocent, tragic deaths. This time in Chernihiv, Northern Ukraine. Just after 9am, 3 missiles hit the centre of Chernihiv, killing, at the last count, 16 civilians. People going about their ordinary lives, in a beautiful town centre. Death arrived. We were lucky because we were supposed to be there. In a hotel in the centre, where several hotels and Airbnbs were damaged. The only reason we weren't there was that our vehicle needed some work doing, and we ended up not going there.
That is the state of Ukraine now. It's becoming ever more dangerous, with completely random terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Russians, happening daily. 
One of the main difficulties is that Ukraine is running out of the means to protect itself. The USA at the present time does not have Ukraine's back. The Republicans in Congress are basically stopping the aid getting to Ukraine. 

In the meantime, we had a really positive aid run, which actually will be in two parts. Yesterday we collected freshly baked bread from the wonderful Pastor Viktor, in Letichiv.
300 loaves. The smell in the car was so good.....hard to stop salivating.
Today we delivered the bread to villages near Chernihiv, as well as spending time in a local school with the wonderful English teacher, Alla, and her pupils. The affection that the pupils have for her, and vice versa, is a joy to behold. However, it was obvious to see how the children had been affected by the Chernihiv blasts. Alla said the whole school shook. Her sense of humour didn't desert her, though.....we asked the students and Alla to draw maps of the UK. This was Alla's version.... she's possibly better as an English teacher!

Here are some photos of the delivery to two isolated, economically deprived and somewhat forgotten villages in the Chernihiv region....

And so all the bread was distributed and clearly very much appreciated. It was also very good - a few of us shared one of the loaves! It seems a small thing in the scheme of things, but it felt good to be there, sharing these small things. You could see the hardship on many of the faces. But there were also many smiles and thank you's. It was, as ever, humbling and heartwarming at the same time. 
It's good to be back.



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back in Ukraine...

Image
I returned to Ukraine 4 days ago, after a 4 months break. I'm living in Lviv for now...back to the beginning of this journey. Bob is planning to travel here next month, depending on his health. Our last few months in Odesa, when we took aid to Kherson, and experienced missile attacks and shells, took its toll on our physical and psychological health, and relationship. Kherson is even more dangerous and I don't have the will to return, at present. Brave people continue to take aid to frontline regions and/or remain living there, enduring continued shelling that leads to deaths and injuries every day. Two days ago (Friday morning) Russia launched a double missile attack on a residential area in Odesa, which killed 21 people and wounded at least 75. A paramedic and 2 emergency workers were killed in the second strike, after having rushed to the scene. This attack coincided, cynically, with the start of the sham presidential election in Russia and illegal elections in the four part
Read more

Back in England...

Image
....where it has been cold and wet for 2 months; but a few days after our return has seen the arrival of an "Indian summer." It's the time of heather on the moors, reminding us of how beautiful our other home is, as well as Ukraine. It has been really good to catch up with family and friends, and with the Ukrainians we helped to settle under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme last year. Some have returned to Ukraine, but many have been here a year or longer. The majority of those who stayed are independent now, with jobs and their own rented accommodation. Their children are doing well, in the village school and Park High School in Colne. Yesterday was the turn of one of the families in our house, who moved ino a rented cottage in Trawden. We helped them a little, with a few items from our house and ferrying things over in our car. But most of the support came from the local community, which rallied around with offers of furniture, pots and pans, etc. We
Read more

Endings...

Image
We are frequently asked about how long we will remain in Ukraine, doing the work we do. We have lived in Ukraine for 1 year and 4 months, and we've been driving and delivering aid since September 2022. When we leave has never been an easy question to answer but, finally, we have one. Endings are never easy, especially when leaving a country and people you have grown to love. This, despite the huge challenges of living in a war zone, and the corruption and inequality that were present before Russia's full invasion, which continue. We always said that we would find it very difficult to do another winter here. Last winter was so hard, with Russia's constant attacks on infrastructure, towns and cities plunged into darkness, the extreme cold, and driving in snow and ice. We think this southern area has become more dangerous and that, unfortunately, this will only worsen as winter approaches. Terrorism, in it's many forms, will be Putin's main tool, whether it's bombi
Read more