Sussex Bylines asked Iryna Olyanovska, of Stand for Ukraine Brighton and Hove, how Ukrainians were coping with a bitterly cold Christmas period, many also enduring constant bombardment from Russian missiles. Iryna has been living in the UK for 25 years, but she has family and friends in the Ukraine and is deeply concerned for their welfare. She is also one of a group of volunteers in Brighton and Hove who are doing an amazing job raising money for much-needed supplies to send to Ukraine.
As we in the UK begin to shiver and slip at our first wintry spell of the season, this might give us just a hint of the privations and suffering endured by Ukrainians, as they fight to save themselves and their nation, in a winter where temperatures frequently hover around freezing and can dip to minus 20 and even lower.
Not only do Ukrainians face the continuing military battle to repel and drive out the Russians, but Russia has weaponised winter by targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure, affecting supplies of all major utilities, heating, power, drinking water, sewage etc.
Heating and power are under threat
Most Ukrainian city dwellers live in high-rise blocks of flats. Some of these blocks were designed as fully electric homes with no built-in gas supply. With the distinct lack of electricity, all parts of the urban infrastructure that depend on electric power are under threat: heating, cooking and bathing (water needs electricity to pump it up), and of course lifts – very bad luck for someone to be stuck in a lift during a power cut that can go on for days.
My cousin and her family who live in Odessa haven’t had electricity and heating for eight days now. They live in a 16-storey block of flats. Their neighbours, who are frail and elderly, fear coming out of their flats because of the bitter cold and because they are not sure how they will return to the sixteenth floor without a working lift. But at least they have their home to live in. Lots of people have lost everything. Their possessions are reduced to the clothes on their backs.
The most obvious threat is the lack of heating: the average temperature can drop to minus 20. My friend’s son described the temperature in their flat as: “You can see your own breath cloud.” It’s devastatingly scary for all frail people: the elderly, young children and people weakened by the stress of nearly ten months of active war. But it is most scary for those who have nowhere to turn and no one to turn to.
Surviving against all the odds
Here’s how a Ukrainian, Iryna Maruniak, described the scene this week:
“This war has knocked on the door of each and every Ukrainian home.”
Iryna, who oversees utility issues for the municipality of Lviv, western Ukraine’s biggest city, cited power cuts that have left millions of households across the country dark and cold.
But for every privation and setback, resolute, resourceful and inventive Ukrainians are finding ways of surviving, and there are opportunities for us here in the UK to provide practical support.
In Ukraine, most of the civilian population is busy providing for the army. In this long strive for volya (freedom), some people weave camouflage nets, others make candles in tins for soldiers in trenches and others bake bread and cook food for soldiers; and all collect donations, like the nine-year-old kids playing chess and donating their winnings to buy drones. All for a fighting chance to win and to protect the future of Ukraine!
Some Ukrainian communities and authorities in cities, towns and villages are setting up thousands of insulated tents, known as ‘invincibility points’, where people can warm themselves, drink hot tea and charge their phones and other devices. In urban high-rise housing blocks, residents band together to leave care packages in lifts — water, nappies, snacks — for anyone caught by an unexpected outage.
Generators and power packs are urgently needed in Ukraine – for families, for communities and for hospitals and other public services and businesses – to literally keep people alive and keep alive the hope for a future for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian community in Brighton and Hove is raising funds and receiving donations of equipment to send to Ukraine. Trusted links with Ukraine and supply lines have been established, and generous volunteer individuals and organisations from Sussex are helping to get this equipment to Ukraine and right into the areas suffering most, such as Kharkiv, which fleeing Russian troops attempted to completely destroy as they left. Successful deliveries have already been made this year and more consignments are due to leave for Ukraine, in early January and again later in the month.
For those who can make financial donations, here is the crowdfunding page: Crowdfunding to buy electro generators for Ukraine on JustGiving
To find out more about the Ukrainian situation and the activities of the Ukrainian community in Brighton and Hove please see the website: https://www.standforukrainebnh.org/ and Facebook page: For Ukraine – Brighton&Hove | Brighton and Hove | Facebook
If you would like to help the Ukrainian community in Sussex then please do not hesitate to contact us via these links.
Currently the following items are needed:
- generators (new and old) – we will service them before delivery to Ukraine. Special call to local businesses who have plans to renew their generator stock for new eco-friendly versions
- thermal clothing for men, women and children
- rechargeable head torches and lanterns
- power banks and any rechargeable power banks stations and power accumulation devices
- hats, gloves and warm clothing
- small toys for orphans for the festive period
- chocolate and sweets.
Contact Stand for Ukraine via their website or Facebook for collection and drop off details. Thank you for your continuing support.
