'I fear for family and friends' says Ukrainian refugee

A UKRAINIAN man now living in Plymouth said he fears for the safety of friends and family still in his native Kharkiv after recent Russian shells landed close to his childhood home.

- ANDY PHILLIPS

Maksym Litvinov is rebuilding his life in Britain’s Ocean City after his family were given sanctuary in the UK by a connection with city veterinarian Edmund Shillabeer.

Although he escaped with his life, Maksym lost his home, business and almost everything he owns due to Russian bombardment of Kharkiv, in the east of Ukraine.

But he said he still fears for the safety of those still in the city and its outlying areas, not least after recent shelling which saw the windows of his family home shattered by a bomb blast.

The campaign of attacks on civilians – including a community store in the village of Hroza – has been globally condemned.

Maksym also said he fervently believes Vladimir Putin has had a hand in helping Hamas terrorists in Israel, mainly to take the eyes of the world away from Russian action in Ukraine.

Maksym has already taken part in one convoy carrying aid to Ukraine as part of the efforts of Plymouth businessman Andreas Evangelou, and plans on making the 34-hour journey again next month.

He said his family home was damaged by recent shelling in Kharkiv, just one day after the attack on the village of Hroza, which killed more than 50 civilians and is under investigation as a potential war crime.

“After that day when Russians bombed Hroza, the next day they hit Kharkiv city and they bombed a fivestorey flats building, and killed a child like my son who was living with his grandma.

“This apartment block was just 300 metres from my mum’s house.”