Letter from Ukraine

Just when you get used to having electricity, water and peaceful sleep, the Russians launch a barrage of missile attacks all over Ukraine (March 9). They’re currently shelling Kherson. I counted 14 strikes early in the morning. The only Ukrainians killed were civilians. This is the way Russians wage war. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians. Executing captured Ukrainian soldiers. Using Russian criminal prisoners as cannon fodder. The prison soldiers are reportedly heavily drugged with narcotics. Why else would they throw themselves into a barrage of bullets?

Since my last letter from Ukraine (February 2023), I have been to Bakhmut four times and Avdiivka twice, traveling through villages in the Donetsk Oblast destroyed by the Russian occupation. Take humanitarian and animal aid in, evacuation of animals out. One trip into Bakhmut was in an armored vehicle donated by the Canadian government. That is how the war will be won and Ukraine survives. Donations.

The humanitarian organization I volunteer for, K9 Rescue International, is one of the few still in Ukraine providing the support needed in the conflict zones. Our name does not completely describe what we do. We distribute supplies to hospitals, food banks and frontline medics, including nonlethal military equipment and animal supplies, sometimes under enemy shelling. Our vehicles are abused by the conditions and the copious amount of diesel we use. We are running very low on funds and are reaching out to the public for help.

Tom Bates, Lakebay