By Harry Mottram: Three years to the day the Ukrainian flag flew over Bath’s Guildhall marking the anniversary when Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
It was February 24th 2022 when the unprevoked armed assault ordered by Russia’s dictator Putin attempted to carry out the so-called Special Military operation to oust the Kiev regime in a few days.
History shows it failed spectacularly and the war continues to this day with attempts to find a lasting peace which seems unlikely given the absolutist demands of the Kremlin to subjugate Ukraine. How the war will ends is anyone’s guess, but President Trump failed in his promise to end it in one day with a phone call to Putin.
Collective wisdom suggests it will take a change of Government in Moscow for sanity to prevail since the Ukrainians have pledged to fight on until they are free of Russian forces.
Three years ago Bath welcomed hundreds of refugees – and on the anniversary of the invasion many packed into Bath Abbey for a concert of Ukrainian music with the fundraising event driven by a Ukrainian teacher from Bath.
Zhenya Shkil has lived in the UK for about 10 years having taught in Bristol and attended the University of Bath where she took a Masters Degree in interpreting and translation.
I caught up with her outside Bath Abbey where she pointed out the queue for the concert stretched from down Stall Street to the Abbey door.
“We sold about 500 tickets before the box office closed, then another 100 or more on the door and then there were children who came in for free as well and all the performers as well so at least 800 making the Abbey feel very full,” she said. “There are 500 Ukrainians in Bath and North East Somerset and they come from different towns. I have no connection with Oleksandriya – it is south of Kiev where I come from – and the reason we chose Oleksandriyais it is similar to Bath in size and with an oblast with villages and towns is like Bath and North East Somerset.
“In our constitution of the Friends of Oleksandriya we are pledged to help civilians to get through the war. When the war is over then maybe there will be businesses who will invest in Ukraine from our connections we’ve made.”
Zhenya is a self-employed teacher, translator and facilitator for Ukrainian adults and children to learn English for school exams and for employment.
She said she will continue to organise the annual concerts plus in Refugee Week (16-22 June 2025) the plan is to highlight Ukrainian culture. See https://refugeeweek.org.uk/
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Harry Mottram is a freelance journalist. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Telegram, TikTok and Email:harryfmottram@gmail.com
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