News from the Front in Ukraine

Ukraine has generally fallen out of the headlines in North America. However, the fighting continues there in the eastern part of the country known as the Donbass, which used to be the most prosperous area of Ukraine. For up to date information on what is happening there, check out the blog http://milakovsky.livejournal.com.

Written by a young American who is volunteering with an organisation that aids refugees from eastern Ukraine, he writes about the hardship being endured by ordinary people on both sides of the current line of demarcation. According to Milakovsky, the Kiev government is making it harder and harder for people in the region to get back and forth across the line. Many of them are elderly folks  with very limited means who must use public transit to collect their pensions in the other zone. He quotes church leaders who speak of actual starvation among civilians caught up in the conflict.

There is talk of tensions heating up in this region now that summer is nearly here. In all the geopolitical maneuvering, as usual it is the regular citizens who are forced to pay the price for their leaders' ambitions. Let us hope that Ukraine, which has experienced

so much tragedy in its history, will be spared further bloodshed.

The image below is from central Kiev, the Cathedral of St. Sofia.