The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
SEVERAL people whose families are affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine attended Thursday evening’s protest at Tim Smythe Park in Ennis.
Irene Korniichuk was there with her mother, stepfather and her daughter. Having come here for a visit from the Ukraine, Irene can’t go home again. “My husband and my older children stayed there, I was just visiting Mum. I can’t return home now. My other two children are with my sister now and they crossed the border into Poland. My husband is still in the Ukraine.”
The two children who have gone to Poland are 11 and 15 and she would like to bring them to Ireland if possible.
She said her husband will hopefully help in the Ukrainian resistance. “He’s not a soldier but he’ll do everything he can.”
Women in her home city are also very active in the fight. “They gather together in different places and they’re making camoflague nets for our soldiers, they are making petrol bombs, making Ukrainian flags, making clothes for people from other cities, trying to provide shelter for people.”
A rally in the Fair Green Ennis in Solidarity with the Ukranian people. Pic Arthur Ellis.
Dimitri Kotsulyak has lived in Ireland for over 20 years, but both his mother and his mother in law are still in Ukraine.
While his own mother is relatively close to the border and should be able to leave the country soon, it’s another story for his wife’s mother. “The city where she is surrounded. There’s no communication, no transport to evacuate her, all the petrol and diesel is removed for the army. There are alarms a couple of times a day, the city there hasn’t been bombed yet, but military targets have been. People are scared, anyone who is younger and more mobile has already left, but there are elderly people there, in big trouble.”
He has had a lot of trouble sleeping since the invasion began, and his employers have given him time off work, which he is grateful for. “I was supposed to go back again tomorrow but my manager texted me and said stay at home, take your time, try and do something for your family.”
A rally in the Fair Green Ennis in Solidarity with the Ukranian people. Pic Arthur Ellis.
Elina Kobale has relatives throughout the former Soviet Union, including in Russia and Ukraine, and she is appalled by the events of the last week. “It’s devastating, angering. Innocent people are being harmed, their lives destroyed. Children, mothers, sons, daughters, families are being torn apart because of the fact that Vladimir Putin decided for power or resources or to anger NATO needs to be in Ukraine and he doesn’t care what it costs.”
She says that many people in Russia do not support Putin, but are voiceless and would be at serious risk if they protest.
A local woman, Kathleen Austin has worked with orphanages in Eastern Europe in the past, and is very concerned for the plight of orphans in Ukraine right now. “We always felt the Ukraine was okay, but this is just devastating. And there’s no mention of the 600 orphanages there and how those children are tonight.”
A Russian woman who addressed the approximately 150 people who attended said she was ashamed of what is being done in her country’s name. “We are all in danger because of a crazy guy who thinks he can rule the world, tell everyone what to do. He’s worse than Hitler because he has nuclear power and he tells everyone if you don’t obey I will use it.”
She said that many people in Russia feel just like westerners do towards Putin. “Most of my friends, most of my relatives hate him and they don’t want this war.”
Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked for a number of other regional titles in Limerick, Galway and Cork.
