Capital rightly proud of its helping hand after four years of Putin’s war

Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the city's Lord Provost, Councillor Robert Aldridge, took to the pages of this newspaper to reflect on the war and the part that Edinburgh has played in accommodating Ukrainian refugees.

He wrote that he was proud of the role that Edinburgh’s communities have played in helping those "fleeing the horrors of Russia's illowar" and noted that "around 3,000 Ukrainians are now residing in the Capital."

Over the ladt 4 years I have written several columns (if not more) about the war and its effects on the Ukrainian population. I have a very close friend from Kyiv who is a former Soviet tank commander and who has played his part in assisting the Ukrainian war effort. He was the first official from Kyiv's City Administration that I met when I first went there on an official visit back in 1991.

I also have a few relatives, now living in Edinburgh, who fled Ukraine with their children and who are extremely grateful for the way they have been treated since landing on these shores.

This bloody incursion by Russia into a neighbouring sovereign state, labelled a "Special Military Operation" by Putin, was expected to be done and dusted within ten days and yet, here we are, 4 years later and the Russians have not achieved anybof their original goals.

According to the UK's Ministry of Defence more than 1.2 million Russian troops have been killed or wounded, sacrificed on the altar of Putin's egotistical desire to subjugate Ukraine. Hevmade a colossal error when he underestimated the Ukrainian population and has paid a heavy price.

Ukrainians and Russians fought side by side against the Nazis in the Second World War but Putin has now inflicted wounds that might never heal.