Ukraine

St Michael's Monastery, Kiev

I have been away, visiting our daughter in Ukraine. When I talk to people in this country, their knowledge of Ukraine is pretty basic. Some will know about the Nuclear Accident at Chernobyl, others might remember the Orange Revolution, when we had a pro-western candidate facing the pro-russian candidate, and allegations of dioxin poisoning.

It is all a bit vague for us in this country, despite the fact that Ukraine is the largest country in Europe by area. Even the two big cities in Ukraine are known more for a dish and a book (Chicken Kiev and the Odessa file). The Russian fleet is also based at Odessa, which is on the Black Sea.

The Opera House, Odessa

It has been fascinating visiting an essentially non-tourist destination is to have the opportunity to see life through the eyes of the citizens. There are many beautiful things to see in Ukraine, including magnificent cathedrals and monasteries. They seem to rise out of the poverty and degradation around them, and are magnificent structures.

History is all around the Ukraine, and there is much culture. We had the opportunity to visit the Opera in Odessa: it was a performance of Madame Butterfly by Puccini (sang in Italian with Ukrainian cyrillic surtitles). The shame was that the performance was only 20% full, despite the tickets being cheap - I suspect that even tickets that are cheap by Western standards are expensive by the average Ukrainian standards. The main parts were well sung, particularly the Sharpless. The Opera House is magnificent in its Rococo elegance, and (frankly) could have been airlifted straight from the centre of Vienna.

Monument at Babi Yar

The history is dramatic and startling. Just on the outskirts of Kiev, there is a ravine called Babi Yar. This is the site of an unbelievable massacre of Jews, agitators, Romanies and many thousands of people in September 1941. Estimates put the total as possible around 150,000. This was done by the nazis, with the help of some Ukrainian sympathisers. It is a ghastly event that has stirred some artists (D M Thomas in the White Hotel, Anatoly Kuznetsov in his book Babi Yar, Yevgeny Yevtuschenko in his poem, and Dmitri Shostakovitch in his 13th symphony in Bb).

The Ravine at Babi Yar

I went on a trip to the ravine. I'm not sure what I was expecting to find. There was a Jewish memorial statue (pictured) by the site of the ravine, but other than that it was very anonymous - there were a couple of crosses by the ravine itself, but no-one was there, and it was an bare and rather scrubby site. I wasn't expecting that. I found it shocking to be standing on the ground where many thousands were killed, and yet there was little to see. Near there was a bench where a couple were having a picnic.

I found it quite distressing that there was nothing there, except trees and some foraging animals (a red squirrel is in the photo).