Former Senedd Member Mick Antoniw has described the surreal normality of life in Kharkiv, a city just 20 miles from the Russian border, where air sirens sound every 45 minutes yet residents continue their daily routines and the parks are immaculately maintained.
Writing after a visit with the Senedd 4 Ukraine group, Antoniw said: "Their parks put ours to shame. If it wasn't for the gunfire and sirens, you wouldn't think there was a war." He added: "I wonder whether it felt like this in London during the blitz?"
Life under constant air warnings
During his stay, Antoniw sat down for breakfast with a representative of the Khartiia unit, part of the Ukrainian National Guard, after delivering the group's 61st 4x4 vehicle to a front-line special operations drone unit. The unit is known for capturing a Russian trench using only drones and robotics.
Antoniw described how, instead of seeking shelter when sirens shriek across the city, people check their mobile phone apps to assess the threat level, the type of drones and missiles approaching, and their trajectory. Bars and restaurants remain open, young people fill the streets, and the parks are free of rubbish, with fountains and flowers in full display.
Winter fears and aid efforts
The Khartiia representative told the group they expect more attacks on infrastructure as winter approaches, and outlined needs including laptops, monitors, power banks, and generators. Last year temperatures dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius, and the group witnessed the impact of missile strikes on residences, schools, hospitals, and petrol stations during their 2,500-mile drive.
Antoniw noted that while Ukraine can shoot down drones, there is limited defence against ballistic missiles and glide bombs without Patriot missiles. He questioned why the West, which can intercept Iranian missiles, cannot provide similar air defence for Ukraine.
Solidarity from Wales
The Senedd 4 Ukraine group has delivered several million pounds of aid, with former Welsh miners Wayne Thomas and Carwyn Donovan at its core. The group works with the Ukrainian miners' union in Pavlohrad, which is under daily missile attack, reflecting the historic link between Welsh and Ukrainian miners.
Antoniw and former Senedd member Alun Davies are set to make their seventeenth delivery to Ukraine in a fortnight, with an eighteenth planned for October. Antoniw concluded that Ukraine is the frontline of European democracy, and that the war is one Putin cannot win, with Ukraine inflicting increasing damage on Russia's gas and oil economy and suffering losses of around one and a half million killed or wounded, mainly from Russia's poorer ethnic regions.
