Dozens of memorials to the many dead and remnants of the 2022 bombing are all poignant reminders of the conflict. “In Maidan Square, hundreds of photos of dead fighters include two Kiwis. A display of damaged military machinery, a photographic recognition of dead Azovs who defended Mariupol and wall after wall covered in photos of lost soldiers fill Sofia Square.

Travelling more than 700km in a white van from Rzeszow, Poland to Kyiv, Ukraine last week, Waiheke’s Brent Impey joined Kiwi KARE’s Tenby Powell just kilometres from the front line as they try to make at least a small positive difference to the under-siege people of Ukraine. 

Brent says Kyiv is ‘buzzing’ and vibrant but the darkness of war lurks. Martial law, warning sirens, dozens of memorials to the many dead and remnants of the 2022 bombing are all poignant reminders of the conflict. “In Maidan Square, hundreds of photos of dead fighters include two Kiwis. A display of damaged military machinery, a photographic recognition of dead Azovs who defended Mariupol and wall after wall covered in photos of lost soldiers fill Sofia Square. Air raid sirens go off most nights and one was followed by an explosion while I was there,” says Brent. 

• Sarah Gloyer

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