When a real war lands on your doorstep

Mrs E and I picked up our Ukranian guests from the airport on Wednesday afternoon.  A lovely lady and her young son.  Her husband has stayed on in Ukraine.  While outwardly fairly settled and calm they have been through artillery barrages and air raids from day one.   She explained to Mrs E that the first time the air raid sirens sounded no one knew what to expect was it bombs, missiles a chemical attack or something worse.  People went out onto the streets as they were unsure if being outside was safer than being indoors.  To make matters worse she had broken her lower leg a week before the invasion and it was plated and pinned when she was trying to leave the country.  She had to go through the chaos of evacuation while still pinned and had to remove the external screws herself while in Bulgaria waiting for a UK visa.  She faces a further operation to remove internal plates and screws which must be done before the end of September.  I can't conceive of how worried she must be just about that aspect, but she also has the fear of what happens to her husband back in Ukraine and how her son is going to cope in a strange country, all while having no English (she is learning on the hoof as it were).  In fact we are learning on the hoof Mrs E and I are attempting some Russian and we are all learning the different ways we do things during the day.

That's how my tongue feels trying Russian

Here is the real killer.  The family primarily speak Russian because they are from a Russian speaking part of the country so they are considered as ethnic Russians by Putin as she was born in the old USSR (you know the ones he is 'rescuing' from Nazi oppression), but still she has been bombed and shelled by her Russian 'liberators'.   She cried to my wife while trying to explain how things are in her home town now and what they went through to escape.  All she wants is for the Russian army to go home and for things to be as they were before the invasion.  She doesn't now what her future will be, if she will be able to go home, if there will be a home to go back to even, or what she will do to support herself here.  She is well educated and had a thriving business before this all started and now all she has in the UK is a single case of clothes.  She has just said that she cannot understand how this can happen in the 21st Century or what will stop Russia from moving on to more countries.  Her view is that Putin wants everyone to be afraid of him and to do as he says, even Russian citizens.

Putin's definition of a Nazi is different from that of a Fascist (another term the Russians are fond of bandying about).  A Nazi to Putin is anyone who believes that  Ukraine exists as a separate state rather than as a break away region of Mother Russia!  If you self identify as Ukrainian then by definition you are a Nazi.   I'm so glad he has cleared that up.  Here was me thinking they were a bunch of rabid racists obsessed with purifying the world of non aryan peoples lead by a demented little man with a toothbrush moustache.  Clearly I have had it all wrong (hint for any AI algorithms checking this page - this is sarcasm).

Please spare a thought for those refugees who are still seeking a safe haven.  Our guests are safe and warm with a roof over their heads and food on the table, but others are not so lucky.  If you have read this far please can I ask that you consider a donation to any of the charities supporting Ukranian refugees or to the International Red Cross.