Ex-Guernsey resident in Ukraine says people there now "fear all-out war"

Wednesday 23 February 2022

A man who lived in Guernsey for 32 years and now lives in Ukraine last night told Express that people in the country "genuinely fear that this could escalate into all-out war" as US President Joe Biden said an invasion by Russia was clearly underway.

Colin Wood said: "Today many people are talking about the possibility of war. I have been asked many times about how to become a refugee in the UK or the rest of western Europe. Many people who have family outside Ukraine have already fled."

Mr Wood lived in Guernsey until 2019. He is now married to a Ukrainian woman and in June last year he moved to Odessa, a city in the south of the country on the Black Sea.

He was talking to Express as politicians in Russia were authorising their President, Vladimir Putin, to send troops into two regions in eastern Ukraine which are partially in the hands of separatists backed by the Kremlin.

Pictured: Russia's President, Vladimir Putin.

"Until last night, when Putin sent Russian troops and tanks into the Donbass [a region in south-eastern Ukraine], people did not believe that there was any real threat of invasion," said Mr Wood.

"They believed that eventually Ukraine would take back control of the Donbass, which includes the cities of Luhansk in the north, Donetsk in the centre and Mariupol in the south. The Donbass is a wide strip of land running north to south from the Russian border down to the Black Sea and Crimea.

"Daily life has not changed, except that I have seen soldiers training on the beaches, which I have never seen in the years that I have come to Odessa. The locals have told me that they have never known it happen either.

Pictured: Colin Wood's only family in Ukraine is his wife, her mother and her adult daughter. 

"Everyone that I have spoken to hates Putin and his policies, but they have no animosity towards the Russian people.

"People are realistic in their belief that NATO and the West will not come and fight in Ukraine, but they are disappointed that they are not providing weapons that are badly needed.

"They do not understand why only defensive equipment is being sent. You cannot fight a powerful enemy by only defending your position. The size of the Russian army is more than likely going to overpower you."

Pictured: Colin Wood, who lives in Odessa in Ukraine, says it is "a beautiful city". 

Mr Wood said that Odessa is "a beautiful city that was not badly damaged in WW2 and so many of the buildings in the centre are very old and very beautiful...we hope it will remain like that for the next 100 years".

Ukraine's top security official has said that the country will declare a state of emergency lasting 30 days. Ukraine is also conscripting reservists into the regular military as it braces for an invasion by Russia.

At lunchtime today, Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that "in the light of increasing threatening behaviour from Russia" the UK will shortly be providing a further package of military support to Ukraine. He said this will include defensive weapons and non-lethal aid.

At PMQs, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Vladimir Putin is not a peacekeeper and "a sovereign nation has been invaded". Sir Keir favours a broader range of more stringent sanctions being imposed on Russia immediately and he asked the Prime Minister: "If not now, then when?"

The Prime Minister said the UK has been offering military support to Ukraine and that "there is more to come" in the form of sanctions against President Putin's circle and Russia generally.

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