\u201cThis war is devastating . . . it\u2019s not only one area of Ukraine, but the entire country is in ruins,\u201d are the words of Ukrainian-born Lyuba Bridger (48), who now calls Wellington her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She may be safely ensconced in the Boland, but her family and friends in Europe are all directly affected by the war on the country being waged by Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In solidarity with the people of Ukraine, Bridger joined a group of 20 locals waging a peaceful protest in Piet Retief Street on Friday (11 March).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPray for Ukraine\u201d was the message on their posters portraying their yellow-and-blue painted pleas in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa has been Bridger\u2019s home for the past 25 years. \u201cI have been here longer than in my birth country. I have a big family in Ukraine, as one of five children in my immediate family. I have three brothers, who still live there with my nephews and nieces, and are scattered over the west, east, south and centre of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What lies at the very heart of the matter, Bridger says, are people who are dying daily, not just as casualties of conflict, but due to food and water shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe main routes of nearly the entire country are currently occupied by Russian forces, and people are dying after not having access to resources for the past three weeks. I have heard about and seen footage of people scraping up snow to melt for some hydration. It\u2019s also still winter there, with spring approaching soon, and I do not mean South African cold temperatures. I\u2019m talking about -10\u00b0 Celsius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are also people who were caught off-guard by the onset of the war in which many were severely exposed to the elements in only one set of clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bridger says she\u2019s been following the situation in her country on social media. One video details devastating conditions in the city of Kharkiv, where 100 children, from newborns to year-olds, were orphaned by the bomb attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey were trapped in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv for a week-and-a-half, in which they had to cope with the barest of necessities. They were trapped in the cold with no electricity or proper food and milk supplies or even nappies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bridger explained that these very children were transported to Poland by bus for 50 hours before they could be replenished with warmth and food in their bellies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t speak much to the politics, but what I do know is that whatever is happening is evil. One thing that is truly amazing is the way all Ukrainians have united. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is divine intervention from God, who is bringing the people of Ukraine together to fight, not in terms of conflict, but to address the circumstances brought onto the defenceless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She told Paarl Post<\/span> about her Christian faith and that her family had been victims of persecution by the Soviet Union before Ukraine\u2019s independence in 1991. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy brother is a pastor who has been sourcing and working with volunteers in places related to this conflict for years. My sister-in-law is a nurse in the south, currently assisting both Ukrainians and Russian soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are endless stories I can tell that\u2019s happening as we speak. Yet, the unity of God is infectious which is a comfort as it has also unified my people with journalists from all over the world, who are on the ground to report on this ongoing war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThis war is devastating . . . it\u2019s not only one area of Ukraine, but the entire country is in ruins,\u201d are the words of Ukrainian-born Lyuba Bridger (48), who now calls Wellington her 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