Ukrainian thanks for the good ship MS Victoria - Steve Cardownie

I was delighted to read in yesterday’s Evening News that the MS Victoria berthed in Leith to accommodate Ukrainian refugees who fled the war in their homeland is setting sail.

While it no doubt fulfilled its original purpose it was undoubtedly time for it to move on. My Ukranian relatives were lucky enough to find accommodation on land when they arrived here last March as part of the Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme and have thrived as part of the community in Leith. The former “residents” of MS Victoria will now get the chance to plan a more settled future.

There are nearly twenty-five thousand Ukranian refugees now domiciled in Scotland, all safe from the ravages of the illegal occupation of their country by Putin’s Armed Forces. They are, in the main, women and children who had to make the heart-wrenching decision to leave their menfolk behind as they sought a haven for themselves and their sons and daughters.

Over the week-end Ukraine marked 500 days of fighting since Russia invaded and as Ukraine launched its counter offensive the Kremlin stepped up its efforts to terrorise the Ukranian population by unleashing 39 missiles and carrying out 334 air strikes across the country in the past week according to the Ukrainan government. It also stated that it had carried out more than 79 strikes on Russian positions and on 11 ammunition dumps as well as destroying 24 Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and 40 Iranian made Shahed precision-attack suicide drones.

So, as the war continues, the Ukranian refugees currently living here may have to wait for some time yet before returning to their families back home.