Napier florist Tanya Skyrme (right, holding the flag) with friends and fellow Ukrainians this week protesting Russia's war on Ukraine. Photo / Supplied
Napier florist Tanya Skyrme (right, holding the flag) with friends and fellow Ukrainians this week protesting Russia's war on Ukraine. Photo / Supplied
When Napier florist Tanya Skyrme called her family in Ukraine this week they were hiding in a basement waiting for the bomb sirens to stop blaring.
Skyrme grew up in Ukraine and has been in constant communication with her parents and two sisters in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, in Ukraine'swest, following Russia's invasion of her home country on February 24.
Skyrme is organising a public event on Saturday at 2pm at Napier Soundshell on Marine Parade and is inviting anyone who can attend to come along in a "show of solidarity".
"I would like that people know about the war and for solidarity in support of the people of Ukraine," she said.
"I just invite everyone to come along and show our support and solidarity for one hour, to talk about peace and no war. We want Russia out of Ukraine."
Skyrme said she would send photos from the gathering to her family and friends back home to show that people around the world were thinking of them and supporting them.
The event on Saturday will be held at the Napier Soundshell. Photo / NZME
"I spoke to them on [Thursday] and there were sirens for a bomb attack, so they were for two hours hiding in the basement," she said of her family.
Skyrme said they were keeping safe and it was not too bad in their region compared to eastern Ukraine, where much of the fighting was unfolding.
Nations across the globe, including New Zealand, have united in their condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his decision to start the war with neighbours Ukraine.
The war has been going for over a week, with hundreds of civilians reported dead.
Skyrme is also encouraging people, if they are able, to donate to the Red Cross fund Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis.
Skyrme is married to a Kiwi and has been living in Hawke's Bay for 12 years after growing up in Ukraine and spending much of her life there.
She said the Ukrainian community in Hawke's Bay was very small and it would be great to have lots of people from the wider community attend on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russians living in Hawke's Bay, Rolan Lopatinsky, Victoria Zeyfert and Eldar Kilmetov, are horrified by the invasion by Putin's army, and told Hawke's Bay Today "Russia is not Putin".
They say the world needs to know there would be little support in Russia for what has been happening, and that Russians in New Zealand and elsewhere around the world stand with Ukraine in hope of an end to the conflict, bombing and bloodshed, and Putin.
Shaking their heads in disbelief, they say Putin has no other purpose but to extend his own control.
The trio said many people in Russia will have been fed propaganda about Putin's claims of Russia being vulnerable to invasion by Nato forces, and with independent internal media TV Rain and Echo (radio) stopped from broadcasting will be largely unaware of anything else.
"People are blinded and only hear what he wants them to hear," said Zeyfert, who says she and Kilmetov left 10 years ago because with Putin entrenched without democratic election support they could not see a change "in our lifetime."
In Hastings, St Matthew's Anglican Church on Lyndon Rd West will also host a service and gathering at 7pm on Saturday to offer support and hope for those in Hawke's Bay affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Rev David van Oeveren, of the Anglican Parish of Hastings, said: "We, like many around Hawke's Bay, have wondered how we might respond. Our initial response is to offer a place to gather, to reflect, and to stand in solidarity."
The gathering and service will include a few words, poetry and music.
He asks that if people have sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine and now the global symbol of solidarity, they bring them to the gathering.
