Ukrainian In Bermuda: “My Heart Is On Fire”
[Written by Don Burgess]
The grim pictures of war hit extremely close to home for Ukrainian residents in Bermuda. The Russian assault on their homeland has left them worrying about their families and friends dealing with Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
For Oleksandr Kryvchenko, who works at the Hamilton Princess, this is all too true as he hopes his family can escape from the capital city of Kyiv. He compares Putin to a modern-day Hitler.
Mr. Kryvchenko told Bernews, “My heart is on fire. It’s really hard to be so far from my family, my friends and watch what’s going on.”
He added his family can hear the constant sounds of gunfire from their windows and see the damage caused by the war. A nine-storey wooden apartment close to where his family lives had extreme damage from the fighting, which caused a fire and injured people.
Mr Kryvchenko:
Mr. Kryvchenko said as Russia massed troops, he “didn’t believe” the invasion would happen because Ukrainian people and Russian people don’t have problems between them.
“So I was confident that nobody would invade Ukraine. Yes, they were showing their muscles; they were flexing their muscles…but they were not going to attack our cities and people.”
He would like for his family to get out of the danger zone of Kyiv, but there is great difficulty in trying to secure safe passage anywhere with all the fighting. “I would like to find a safe place for my family. The enemy has already surrounded the city on all the sides.
“They are sitting at home, and they can hear it. I am trying my best to get them away from it, but it is impossible right now as everything is blocked. It is really dangerous.”
He added that his family does not own a car even if Kyiv was not blocked. “Ukraine not safe at all for the moment,” Mr. Kryvchenko said. “My father and mother are pensioners, and I have a sister and her daughter. They have to leave Ukraine and maybe go to Poland, Germany or Romania, or some neighbouring country.”
“When other countries start to help the Ukraine, this will be the beginning of the third world war,” Mr. Kryvchenko believes. “But Putin is not going to stop if he takes Ukraine. I am sure he’ll start to think about the next countries in Europe.
“What’s going to be the problem to stop him from moving forward? He’s got one of the strongest armies in the world. I think the world needs to answer immediately.
Members of the Ukrainian community of Bermuda gathered last week
“We already have a few days in the fire. We can no longer wait anymore. The world has to respond as soon as possible. It has to be a strong response. If we stop this guy right now, the world will get a better place. But he’s like…I would say, Hitler.
“It’s not just Ukraine on the list. He has a long-term plan to get as much territory as he can.”
A fundraising page has been set up on Ptix to donate to Red Cross Ukraine. You can donate here.“
