15/7

A harrowing day at Hostomel. For those who don’t recognise that name- it’s the northern area of Kyiv not far from the Belarusian border where Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022- hoping to topple Kyiv and take Ukraine within 3 days. It is right next door to Bucha which is the other area that should now be well known to many as the site of mass murders, torture and rape of innocent civilians by Russians in the early days of Russian occupation before being liberated.

We were picked up by our hosts, an army chaplain called Ivan and ( a priest who goes to the frontline) and one of the volunteers with MuBudoma (we are home) Aleksander.

As we drove to Hostomel they told us how Russian tanks got within 3-5 km of Kyiv. It took six hours for the column to get here even though it’s not that far.

We drove through the areas they had come in and saw the suburbs and forests where Ukrainians held them off. It was mostly volunteers at this point as regular army were all in the east. Everyone we speak to says the same- that they either didn’t believe that Russia would actually invade ( again) or that it would come from the East. Nearly all of those who fought at this point were territorial defence or volunteers and cadets from the academy and some Azov battalion as the regular army were mostly stationed in the East.

They didn’t have heavy weapons at this point- they literally defended Kyiv with their lives. Many lives were lost here and many bodies still have not been found.

The roads here are rutted and wrecked by tank traffic.

There is still lots of military presence here in this area unsurprisingly. Checkpoints and soldiers are everywhere.

I was struck by how forests and parks that should be places of peace and beauty and recreation were turned into battlefields with trenches and bunkers and Czech hedgehogs on the roads. Trees are blown apart or their tops blown off and flags and memorials to the dead are dotted throughout the forest.

Tension is still high in this area.

The Baptist seminary supports 17 ‘we-care’ centres ( a network of different organisations that do various things- humanitarian work, support refugees etc, ) all different NGOs that partner and get support from the seminary with information, organisation, admin, education etc and also a platform where civil society and the church can collaborate.

Volodmyr Kovad was one of the main guys we spoke to- he is a Christian builder and businessman who started up this charity before the war but it has expanded substantially after the war and they were at the forefront of the emergency response when the Russians first invaded.

Aleksander also works for them and Ivan the army chaplain is a partner as well.

Volodymyr showed us the warehouse he has bought to expand their humanitarian aid activities. His team were also preparing for a market day the next day to raise funds. When they do aid visits they are often given ‘mementos’ of rocket shells, bomb fragments etc and these were in the warehouse.

They, like so many of the other organisations we’ve met, do amazing work and done by people with big hearts and great bravery, willing to sacrifice a lot to help their country.

We also went to the Hostomel airport which of course is famous as the airport that the Russians wanted to take over to complete their invasion of Kyiv- with the objective of capturing it. The airport held strategic value as it was located less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) outside of the capital Kyiv, which would allow Russian troops to airlift more troops and heavier equipment to directly threaten the city. The Russians captured the airport but it was damaged by the Ukrainians sufficiently to render it unusable by the Russians. And the Ukrainians repelled the ground attack just outside Hostomel in the trenches in the forest at the cost of many lives. We went to see the memorials dotted through the forest and got to walk in the trenches where these battles happened not so long ago. It was very emotional and as we drove through to these areas we saw trees blown apart by artillery and rockets and so many houses and buildings that had been shelled and bombed. Including schools and playgrounds…

We couldn’t get too close to the airport as it is highly militarised and even walking in the vicinity we were approached by soldiers who warned us not to take any photos.

Volodomyr had some crazy stories of those first days ( you’ll have to wait for the videos!) and showed us the video he took on his phone on that first day as they woke to Russian helicopters swarming in and firing at their homes.

After this big day we all went out to dinner and enjoyed traditional Ukrainian food and lots of chats. As with so many others they were both fascinated and touched by my story of my grandfather and my Ukrainian roots and of course always say afterwards that I ‘look Ukrainian’.

Ivan kindly drove us back to Kyiv central then and on the way we got stopped at an other army checkpoint and he had to show his chaplain documents and explain that we were Australian doctors.

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16/7

We had a day in Kyiv to go Rudi’s sister’s church. I couldn’t understand a lot of it except to understand that again so much of their thoughts are towards what is happening to their country and their need to pray for it and support it. I was able to sing some verses of How Great Thou Art in Ukrainian which was a beautiful feeling and I think surprised our hosts…  After the service the lady next to me talked to me in broken English to ask what we were doing here. When I told her and mentioned the impact of war on the children she started crying and collapsed into my mums. She was a mum with two young children and she just said “yes it is many, many impact on children”. She was hugging me tightly and didn’t let go. I’ve noticed that the language of touch and hugs is one that can break through other language barriers and many a message has been conveyed through a heartfelt hug.

After church we had a bit of a look around Kyiv. I wanted to check out the Ukrainian National Museum of History to look for information related to my Grandfather’s book. Unfortunately many of the exhibits were packed away for safekeeping due to the war. However there were some very interesting exhibits that just totally undermine the lies of the Russians about the origins of Ukraine and who was here first… There were also some very moving dynamic exhibits about this current war showing some of the terrorist acts that have been committed and the sacrifices made ( and still being made).    

Traditional male Cossack attire

Elsie went back to the hotel with Yulia and John and I went on to St Sophia cathedral which still has the foundations and many of the frescoes of the original built by the founder of Kyiv – Prince Vlodomyr the Great who Christianised Ukraine. The sarcophagus of his son Prince Yaroslav the Wise is in this church. It was first built in 1010 or thereabouts so is over a 1000 years old! We then saw the Golden Gate which is a restoration of the original medieval gate to Kyiv in the times of the Kyivan Rus.