I first met Olena in October. Rye News, were covering The Autumn Fashion Show at the Town Hall. Lesley Farrow from Niche Boutique introduced us. Olena had come to live with the Farrows, through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Lesley and Peter picked her up from Stansted last June and on meeting, they all cried from relief. She was the perfect guest, both at home and in the shop.
Recently, she returned to Ukraine. She had always planned to return to her family, is very missed and has an open invitation to return to Rye. As Lesley says, “Our family now has a Ukrainian branch”.
When I found out that she was going back to Kyiv, to be with her husband and son, I asked her if she’d let us know how she was getting on. Last weekend we received the following:
“After a few months of my life in the beautiful Rye, with its special atmosphere, in the family of my lovely hosts Lesley and Peter Farrow, I went back to Ukraine. I was glad to come back to Kyiv where stay my husband and my son. I realised that this winter won’t be easy for me in the conditions of war, but I was ready to cope with any challenge.
“The horrors of war I found out in 2014 when Russia occupied my native town Donetsk and the part of Donbas. Like many families, we were forced to leave Donetsk and move to Slovyansk controlled by Ukraine government. We started the new life: bought a small apartment, found a new job, my son began to study at the new school.
“February 24, 2022 at 5am I woke up from the sound of artillery shells and I found out about the Russian full-scale war against Ukraine. At that time, my son was in Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. I, with my husband, were in Slavyansk. At the end of March, we decided to move to Kyiv and rent an apartment in order to be closer to our son.
“Now I am in Kyiv. Every morning, when I wake up, the first thing I do is reading of the news and check if we have electricity and internet. As a result of regular Russian shelling of Kyiv, we’ve got big problems with electricity and water supply in December.
“Sometimes they cut off electricity for 5-6 hours a day. People stopped using lifts in the high rise buildings because it’s become unsafe. One day I went into the lift and they cut off the power. There was another girl in the lift. We had to wait over an hour until the technician came and opened the lift. While waiting for the specialist, we watched the film ‘Home Alone 2’, which was downloaded to the girl’s phone. So it was not boring. Every lift has a special box with all you need in case the power cut off.
“Despite the military situation in Ukraine, all schools and universities continue studying. Due to the fact of the regular blackouts, online studying at schools and universities has become impossible. In this regard students were transferred to an asynchronous learning, which provides for self study of the material and allows students to learn on their own schedule.
“We have no problem with food. There is a large assortment of products, but prices have risen a lot, especially for meat products and cheese. In case of power outage, the generators light up the supermarkets and shops. During an air raid, all shops are closed and people should go to the bomb shelter.
“Many theatres, cinemas and museums in Kyiv are open for visitors. The repertoire consists mainly of works of the famous Ukrainian artists, musicians and poets. On the eve of Christmas, there were many exhibitions about the history and traditions of Ukrainian Christmas. I think, now it’s very important to renew our culture and arts and to promote it all over the world in order to approach our victory. Part of the tickets price is transferred to support Ukrainian army.
“Due to the Russian occupation of some regions of Ukraine and the destruction of entire towns such as Kherson, Mariupol, Izyum and others, many families forced to move to the safer regions of the country in the western and central Ukraine. Some of them have lost everything and need help.
“Before Christmas holidays, my hosts offered to help one of the internal displaced families and buy gifts for the children. My friend, who works for a charitable organisation, gave me the contacts of the family from Mariupol which moved to Lviv. They have two children and live in the hostel for internal displaced families. I bought and sent the gifts for the children, taking into account the wishes of their mother. We also helped a young family from Kherson to purchase baby food and a set of bed linen. It was so welcome to make someone happier on Christmas Eve.
“While the war is going on, we should help each other. Thanks to national unity and the support of our foreign partners, Ukraine will be able to survive and win.”
Olena Karabulia, Kyiv, Ukraine, January 2023
Post script … behind Olena in the photograph, is a dog named Patron. He is a famous detection dog who works for the State Emergency Service. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded him the Order of Courage for his work locating and defusing unexploded ordnance left behind by Russian troops.
Image Credits: Olena Karabulia .
Fascinating detail which our day to day news often does not cover. Coping with lifts that suddenly lose power is, for example, something I would not have thought about. And, while we learnt to cope with covid by distance learning and online lectures/classes, the loss of power in Ukraine must hit education hard. But still life goes on. When will the Russians learn they are not wanted despite their claims that they are.