‘Ukrainians feel like the world is starting to forget them...they’re not front-page news any more’
A DERBYSHIRE woman has recalled the horrors she witnessed while volunteering for the second time in Ukraine.
Nikki Dunbar flew out to Eastern Europe just six weeks after returning to the UK in April, but she found the trip “so much harder to process” than her first.
The 31-year-old recalled the tales of civilians she encountered on her 1,000-mile journey around the country. Residents told harrowing stories of the people of Mariupol, where cholera is spreading and mourning civilians are not allowed to bury their loved ones.
The marketing manager from Glossop described her trip as almost like a game of Russian roulette once she crossed the border into Ukraine – never feeling truly safe. But this has become part of daily life for those living in Ukraine.
Ordinary citizens have been forced to leave their homes and take up residence in underground metro stations, on its staircases, between its ticket barriers – anywhere they can find a gap – in an attempt to shelter themselves from impending Russian air strikes.
Nikki said: “Air raid sirens ring out at all times of the day and night, sometimes a false alarm, sometimes intercepted by the Ukraine air defence, and sometimes not.
“I always knew in the back of my mind there was a chance of being in a place that was targeted, but I don’t think I was truly ever prepared to witness one. Even a few miles away, they’re terrifying.”
Nikki spent time travelling across Ukraine, visiting hospitals to deliver medical sup“This
plies. Here she encountered a mix of military personnel and ordinary people, from adults to babies, recovering from burns and shrapnel wounds. Nikki also spent time supporting a number of Ukrainian charities, including an organisation based just a hundred miles from Severodonetsk, where the
most intense fighting is currently happening.
But here she was faced with the grim reality that donations are depleting. When Nikki was shown around the centre, she was taken to rooms of sleeping bags, blankets, camping mats, first aid, baby supplies and hygiene provisions.
“These rooms were once full to the ceiling, but now supplies are dwindling as humanitarian aid and donations become less and less,” she said.
Nevertheless, the feeling in
Ukraine, Nikki said, is one of hope and optimism about what a liberated future will bring, and those in Kyiv and Lviv attempt to carry on with day-to-day life as normally as possible.
But makeshift air strike protections, such as buildings covered by sandbags and historical monuments caged in scaffolding, act as a constant reminder of the struggle the country is facing.
Nikki said: “Last time [the trip] was hard, but there were people passing by having made it to safety.
time, these were real-life accounts from people who have become my friends and who had no choice but to leave people behind and pray they will see them again, or witness loved ones being brutally murdered.
“Ukraine feels like the world is starting to forget them. They’re not front-page news anymore.
“I understand not everyone is in a position to be able to donate, host a refugee, or volunteer, but everyone can stop them from being forgotten and share their stories,” Nikki said.
These rooms were once full to the ceiling, but now supplies are dwindling as humanitarian aid and donations become less and less. Nikki Dunbar