‘We cannot avert our eyes and our minds to the intensity of the suffering’
Fresh from delivering aid to Ukraine, Alun Davies, Labour MS for Blaenau Gwent, gives his verdict on what he witnessed
WALKING through any town or city centre at Christmas can be a lovely experience with Christmas music and carols filling the air. Many of us have enjoyed the gluhwein of Christmas markets and eaten currywurst. When it counts we are all Europeans.
The sounds we heard in the city centre in Lviv were not those of Christmas songs but of generators. Each shop has a generator placed outside the front door to keep the lights on. Such is Christmas in Ukraine this year. Putin’s failures on the battlefield mean that he has turned towards attacking the civilian infrastructure. Like all bullies Putin is fundamentally a coward.
In visiting Ukraine for the first time I was struck by the determination of the people to defend their country – at whatever the personal cost. The “Slava Ukraini – Glory to Ukraine” slogan is repeated both as a greeting and as a farewell. People speak in a very matter-of-fact way about the daily power cuts and how family members are away fighting. And it affects daily life in ways we couldn’t begin to imagine. Ukrainians also wanted to watch the World Cup. Rather than the bars full of people watching a big screen, as we’d expect to see in Wales, there are small knots of people watching on mobile phones or laptops in bars lit only by candlelight. At the same time I also now have an app on my phone which warns me of a potential air raid.
And in attacking Ukraine Putin’s miscalculation is more than the hubris of a military leader or dictator. He has united the Ukrainian nation and he has already changed Ukraine. The first-language Russian-speakers who he expected to welcome his troops as liberators are leading the struggle for Ukrainian freedom. The medical aid that we delivered last week was handed over to people whose first language was Russian. They now prefer to use Ukrainian. The culturally Russian populations are celebrating Christmas on December 25 rather than the traditional Orthodox Christmas on January 7. With a clear-sighted determination these people are removing Russian influences from their lives. Step by step. In this way the invasion has already had far-reaching consequences for Ukraine and for Europe.
And also, therefore, for Russia.
Since February 24 Ukraine has become a European nation. Ukrainians understand what we took for granted. Membership of the European Union is not simply a trading relationship, but one of the building blocks which will secure Ukraine’s future freedom and democracy. The EU flag flies in the squares of Lviv as a symbol of that European future.
Wales’ senior law officer, Counsel General, and Member of the Senedd for Pontypridd is Mick Antoniw. Mick speaks with a raw emotion about his family fleeing Stalin at the end of the Second World War. For Mick the invasion is almost the continuation – or perhaps the culmination – of a centuries-long struggle for Ukraine. The Ukrainian nation that emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union 30 years ago was essentially a stepping stone from the shadow of communism. In this way the war we witness today is not only a war resisting Putin’s brutality, but also Ukraine’s real war of independence.
But it is also deeply, deeply personal.
As the invasion unfolded many of us saw the deep personal trauma in Mick’s eyes. Since February he has been the driving force bringing Members of the Senedd together with civic society and the Welsh Ukrainian community to provide political, personal and practical support for the people resisting Putin.
And this Christmas I was privileged to join Mick and a colleague, Carwyn Donovan, in delivering aid to people on the front line. In October we launched a “Senedd United” appeal to raise funds to deliver practical support to Ukraine. I am grateful to all our party leaders – Mark Drakeford, Andrew RT Davies, Adam Price and Jane Dodds for putting aside the politics and joining together to support our appeal. We drove a 4x4 full of aid to Lviv, in western Ukraine. Over four days we drove from Wales and arrived with the vehicle full of medical supplies, cold-weather clothes, satellite communications equipment and UK military ration packs. As I write these words I am looking at photos of this aid in use by the Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv region.
And this is where each one of us can play our own part. Nato needs urgently to recognise that Russia is preparing further large-scale offensives. As we left the country my app was warning of the constant threat of air attacks. We have all seen the news reports of the intensity of attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine over the last week. Both drones and missiles have been used to attack cities and the energy infrastructure. Ukraine needs the defensive weapons systems, but also the offensives systems which means it can attack Russian forces. We also need to provide the aid and support to enable people to live in Ukraine – to maintain the civilan infrastructure. And we need to continue to isolate Russia and its supporters such as Belorus or Iran, using funds and assets confiscated from oligarchs to help fund Ukraine’s resistance and rebuilding. The inspirational Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited Washington this week to secure the continuing American support. In the same way we need to ensure that our governments work together to deliver a united European response.
Catching a bus for an 11-hour journey back to Krakow in Poland I noticed a mother with her son saying goodbye to her husband. All were wiping tears from their eyes. The father stood by the bus watching his family leave. He walked slowly back to join other soldiers in uniform. Another mother and small child we saw in the bus station in Lviv we also saw the following day in the departure lounge in Krakow Airport. Another family broken by war. The human reality of what war does to countries and people. As refugees I hope we treat them with more respect and love than we see on the front pages of our tabloids. These images are familiar to us from the newsreels of early and mid-20th century. I scream to myself that these personal tragedies are taking place every day in Europe today.
And that’s why I believe we all have a deep personal responsibility to the people of Ukraine. We cannot pass on the other side. We cannot avert our eyes and our minds to the intensity of the suffering taking place a two-hour flight away from our own Christmas celebrations. The Nativity story tells us that there was no room in the inn. Let us not turn away today.