Latest news with #Kyiv-based
Irish Examiner
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
"A country can't fight on empty stomachs": the importance of a mobile bakery in Ukraine
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Felicity Spector, a London-based TV news journalist and food influencer, wanted to help, not least because her paternal grandparents left Dnipro for London in the early 1900s, forced into exile by the wave of pogroms sweeping the Russian Empire. Not wanting to just be 'sitting at home, thinking, 'This is awful',' she got practical. Having been in touch with a Kyiv-based bakery for a potential news item, Spector subsequently found out 'that their warehouse had been bombed and they'd lost all their equipment and spare ingredients: Everything'. Her passion for food blogging meant she knew many London bakery owners, who, she felt, might have old or unused equipment they'd be willing to donate. Her hunch was bang on. 'Anna, who ran the bakery in Kyiv, gave me a list, and within 48 hours I'd found all of it.' A friend put Spector in touch with charity Sunflower Aid, 'and they said, 'OK, let's fill up the vans with all this stuff and drive to Ukraine'.' Spector provided 'the in-car entertainment' as they drove from London to Kyiv with the equipment and supplies, which the bakery then used to make free bread for people in need. While in Ukraine, she heard about Bake for Ukraine, a non-profit run by volunteers. 'It was working with very small bakeries, making free bread for communities that needed it. I thought, 'Wow'. I really wanted to do what I could for them, so that's how that relationship started.' Bake for Ukraine was co-founded by Odesa-born food writer and chef Maria Kalenska, who is, Spector says, 'Very passionate about spreading knowledge about Ukrainian bread culture.' Ukraine has long been known as the 'bread basket of Europe', with its blue-and-yellow flag symbolising the country's endless golden wheatfields under a vivid blue sky. 'They've always had amazing quality wheat, rye, and sunflower seeds, so, obviously, you make bread,' Spector says. 'Ukraine has a history of bread-making and many traditions and holidays are marked by specific breads.' When Spector met Kalenska, the Ukrainian was searching for a mobile bakery. The power cuts of the winter of 2022 had highlighted the need for flexibility in getting bread to people enduring prolonged blackouts and Kalenska had a specific vehicle in mind: A Swiss military mobile bakery built during the Cold War, 100 of which had been donated by a charity to Ukraine 20 years ago. Most had since been stripped for parts, but Kalenska located one in good condition near to her home city of Odesa. Spector set up a JustGiving page, which, in a matter of days, had reached £15,000 (she later discovered that British food critic Jay Rayner had posted the link on his Sunday food column, 'one of the many acts of incredible kindness we've witnessed on our bakery journey'). Spector travelled to Izmil with the Bake for Ukraine team to purchase the truck. They brought everything needed to bake test loaves of bread, including a precious sourdough starter of Kalenska's. Eleven hours after they arrived — sourdough takes time — they were tucking in to buttery, warm slices of bread, with the rest of the day's loaves packed up, ready to be donated to a local national guard unit. It would still need to be transported and serviced, but the mobile bakery was ready. A SYMBOL OF UKRAINIAN IDENTITY Spector has since travelled to Ukraine many times, using up all her holidays and taking unpaid leave to volunteer with Bake for Ukraine. She has documented many of her encounters in her book, Bread & War, 'a collection of stories about people who work or volunteer in food and how they've kept the country going during the full-scale war'. Bake for Ukraine's refurbished mobile bakery is based in Mykolaiv — a war-torn city that's still subject to kamikaze drone attacks — where it supplies bread to villagers close to the front line. The mobile bakers make sourdough palyanytsya, a bread that's become 'a kind of symbol of Ukrainian identity', says Spector, explaining that due to phonetic differences between the Ukrainian and Russian languages, Russians cannot pronounce the word for the traditional Ukrainian round loaf. At the beginning of the invasion, 'palyanytsya' became a shibboleth, a way of identifying enemy agents. If you couldn't say it, you were under suspicion; if you could, you were likely trustworthy. Kalenska told Spector she chose 'palyanytsya' for the mobile bakeries because of its heritage. 'She said 'We know this is our part of our soul. This is who we are. We are honouring the wheat and we're making something which is really beautiful'.' It's also practical: The bread, a rich recipe of flour, milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt, keeps for more than a week and receiving it is emotional for people living in devastated regions. Bread and War by Felicity Spector In Bread & War, Spector writes, 'On one trip to a badly damaged village, a woman was so delighted to see some proper Ukrainian palyanytsya that she held it to her face for several minutes, smelling and kissing the loaf over and over again.' The legacy of the Holodomor, the Stalin-induced famine of the 1930s, means in Ukraine that bread is never wasted, Spector says. 'Nobody would throw away even a crust of bread, because their grandparents said 'No, you can't, we had to eat grass. We would never waste anything. You can't throw away bread. It's valuable'.' The mobile bakery was producing 200 loaves of nutritious sourdough daily, but thanks to a recent volunteer from the Netherlands bringing a new, more efficient mixer, the output of loaves has doubled. A US grant means the volunteers can be paid, Spector says, and two more refurbished mobile bakeries are just about ready to go, thanks to fund-raising efforts by Stateside bakeries. Ukrainians aren't 'sitting around' waiting for Westerners to come and help, though. 'They're getting on with it,' Spector says. 'There's this really strong community spirit. Obviously, there's this terrible thing that's happening, but it has brought people together, and even though they are living through horrific times, lots of people somehow find the energy to do something for someone who's even worse off.' FORGET ABOUT WAR FOR A MINUTE Felicity Spector, author of Bread and War: 'I feel really invested in continuing to be there and to be helping as much as I can. I love seeing my friends and the sense of being connected with them.' One such person is Natalia, whom Spector met at the end of 2022 while travelling on a charity mission with Dmytro, a drummer with pop group Antytila. (The group, who gave up their musical careers to enlist, collaborated with Ed Sheeran on a remix of his hit, 2Step, to raise money for the charity they set up in 2014, when Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia.) Natalia, who'd run a small shop and café before the war, had begun making simple food for the Ukrainian troops who'd stopped for coffee at the remote outpost in the Dnipropetrovsk region on their way to the front line. Her volunteer-run kitchen now feeds 2,000 to 3,000 people daily, and also provides washing machines, so muddy, weary soldiers can launder their clothes. Natalia, whose son is serving in the army, told Spector, 'I want them to be able to sit next to each other and talk to each other over some food. They can forget about war for a minute and just have something nourishing that's been made by hand.' Bread & War is replete with such stories of resilience and hope, struggle and sustenance, innovation, and tradition. Spector is bringing copies with her when she returns to Ukraine in a few weeks' time. 'I want to give a book to everybody who has helped me out,' she says. 'I feel really invested in continuing to be there and to be helping as much as I can. I love seeing my friends and the sense of being connected with them.' There are many more Ukrainian stories for her to tell. Bread & War by Felicity Spector, published by Duckworth, is out now Read More Louise O'Neill among writers pushing the boundaries of theatre at Cork Midsummer Festival
The Herald Scotland
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Putin tells new pope that Ukraine is bent on escalating conflict
"Gratitude was expressed to the Pontiff for his readiness to help settle the crisis, in particular the Vatican's participation in resolving difficult humanitarian issues on a depoliticised basis," the statement said. Putin highlighted "that the Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory," the statement said, describing those acts as terrorism. The Kremlin restated that the conflict's "root causes" must be addressed, a reference to Russian demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status and NATO rule out eastward expansion. Russia has sought to cultivate good ties with the new pope and his predecessor, Francis, especially on humanitarian issues, like family reunifications. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials have said the Vatican is not a suitable site for peace talks between two largely Orthodox Christian countries. The Kremlin noted progress at direct talks this week with Ukrainian negotiators on exchanging prisoners and returning the remains of servicemen. The Russian statement expressed hope the Vatican would "take a more active role" in calling for freedom of religion in Ukraine for members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that has historic links to Russia. Ukrainian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against many of its clergy because of suspected sympathies for Moscow. A Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church has grown larger in Ukraine during the war.
Japan Today
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Putin tells pope that Ukraine bent on escalating conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Pope Leo for offering to help settle the Ukraine conflict and told him Kyiv is intent on "escalating" the war, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. A Kremlin statement said they spoke by phone but did not give a date. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the pope offered to host Russia-Ukraine negotiations at the Vatican. "Gratitude was expressed to the Pontiff for his readiness to help settle the crisis, in particular the Vatican's participation in resolving difficult humanitarian issues on a depoliticised basis," the statement said. Putin highlighted "that the Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory," the statement said, describing those acts as terrorism. The Kremlin restated that the conflict's "root causes" must be addressed, a reference to Russian demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status and NATO rule out eastward expansion. Russia has sought to cultivate good ties with the new pope and his predecessor, Francis, especially on humanitarian issues, like family reunifications. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials have said the Vatican is not a suitable site for peace talks between two largely Orthodox Christian countries. The Kremlin noted progress at direct talks this week with Ukrainian negotiators on exchanging prisoners and returning the remains of servicemen. The Russian statement expressed hope the Vatican would "take a more active role" in calling for freedom of religion in Ukraine for members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that has historic links to Russia. Ukrainian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against many of its clergy because of suspected sympathies for Moscow. A Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church has grown larger in Ukraine during the war. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Straits Times
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia's Putin tells new pope that Ukraine is bent on escalating conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia June 4, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS Russia's Putin tells new pope that Ukraine is bent on escalating conflict MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Pope Leo for offering to help settle the Ukraine conflict and told him Kyiv is intent on "escalating" the war, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. A Kremlin statement said they spoke by phone but did not give a date. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the pope offered to host Russia-Ukraine negotiations at the Vatican. "Gratitude was expressed to the Pontiff for his readiness to help settle the crisis, in particular the Vatican's participation in resolving difficult humanitarian issues on a depoliticised basis," the statement said. Putin highlighted "that the Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory," the statement said, describing those acts as terrorism. The Kremlin restated that the conflict's "root causes" must be addressed, a reference to Russian demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status and NATO rule out eastward expansion. Russia has sought to cultivate good ties with the new pope and his predecessor, Francis, especially on humanitarian issues, like family reunifications. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials have said the Vatican is not a suitable site for peace talks between two largely Orthodox Christian countries. The Kremlin noted progress at direct talks this week with Ukrainian negotiators on exchanging prisoners and returning the remains of servicemen. The Russian statement expressed hope the Vatican would "take a more active role" in calling for freedom of religion in Ukraine for members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that has historic links to Russia. Ukrainian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against many of its clergy because of suspected sympathies for Moscow. A Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church has grown larger in Ukraine during the war. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Putin tells new pope that Ukraine is bent on escalating conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia June 4, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS Putin tells new pope that Ukraine is bent on escalating conflict MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Pope Leo for offering to help settle the Ukraine conflict and told him Kyiv is intent on "escalating" the war, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. A Kremlin statement said they spoke by phone but did not give a date. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the pope offered to host Russia-Ukraine negotiations at the Vatican. "Gratitude was expressed to the Pontiff for his readiness to help settle the crisis, in particular the Vatican's participation in resolving difficult humanitarian issues on a depoliticised basis," the statement said. Putin highlighted "that the Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory," the statement said, describing those acts as terrorism. The Kremlin restated that the conflict's "root causes" must be addressed, a reference to Russian demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status and NATO rule out eastward expansion. Russia has sought to cultivate good ties with the new pope and his predecessor, Francis, especially on humanitarian issues, like family reunifications. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials have said the Vatican is not a suitable site for peace talks between two largely Orthodox Christian countries. The Kremlin noted progress at direct talks this week with Ukrainian negotiators on exchanging prisoners and returning the remains of servicemen. The Russian statement expressed hope the Vatican would "take a more active role" in calling for freedom of religion in Ukraine for members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that has historic links to Russia. Ukrainian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against many of its clergy because of suspected sympathies for Moscow. A Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church has grown larger in Ukraine during the war. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
