There are calls for 80 children in Ukrainian orphanages linked to a Perth charity to be brought to safety in Scotland as the threat from Russian violence intensifies.
Perth ’s Steve Carr is chairman of the Dnipro Kids Appeal which supports the safe havens.
The children are cared for at six orphanages in Dnipro, Ukraine’s third biggest city and home to over a million people, which is now in peril as daily explosions from Russian missiles are being reported.
Unlike Kyiv, Dnipro has no underground stations for refuge near the city tower block where one of the orphanage helpers lives.
Steve told the Perthshire Advertiser that people are sheltering from shelling in the corridor of the concrete tower blocks as they cannot escape underground when the sirens sound.
Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart has now called on foreign secretary Liz Truss to arrange for the children to be brought here “immediately“.
Steve said: “I recently heard from contacts there that local officials forecast many more kids will be made orphans in the coming days and they have asked if the orphanage can prepare to take in more kids. It’s a terrible thought. More children left without parents because of the conflict.
“In the meantime, we continue to monitor the situation, and consider all ways in which we could possibly offer assistance.
“The orphanages have 80 children in their care. They are not currently evacuating the city but we are exploring the logistics of potentially helping with that should they choose to do so. ”
Mr Wishart said: “I have written to the foreign secretary Liz Truss, seeking her assurance that the Foreign Office will put in place an arrangement for these children to be brought to Scotland immediately, should the situation in Dnipro deteriorate.
“Dnipro Kids Appeal have a support network in Scotland that would be able to care for these children, but the prolonged application process would make it impossible for them to get here swiftly.
“The UK has a moral duty to provide resettlement support for these children following any attack on Dnipro, and I fully expect this duty to be fulfilled.”
Steve said he welcomed Mr Wishart’s support.
He explained that the conflict plays heavily on his mind as he sits glued to the news at home in Perth.
“To be honest, I’m finding it hard to do my day job.
“The orphanage children were in a bad way in the first place. Can you imagine how frightened they must be?
“Friends say the shelves in shops are empty, delivery drivers do not want to get hurt in the fighting.”
Steve’s connection to the orphanage began when he went to watch his team Hibernian FC play a match in Dnipro in 2005.
The Easter Road side was paired with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup and a number of fans organised a charity collection for local orphans when they travelled to the away leg of the tie.
What began as a one-off donation was eventually turned into a formal charitable arrangement that has been running ever since.
Steve never expected the result of his trip to Ukraine would be so life-changing for him - he and a group of Hibs fans have been supporting the underprivileged children living in the Dinipro orphanage ever since.
Steve runs Active Security, an alarms company, but in his spare time fundraises to give the orphanage residents “memories” such as birthday parties, Christmas presents and outings, as well as pay for the upkeep of the buildings where the children live.
Until COVID stopped him travelling, Steve was out in Ukraine twice a year.
Now he is getting messages from the network of friends in Ukraine he has made through his charity work.
He said: “I’m thinking of people I know well, messaging them to ask if they are okay.
“Most people are sitting tight. The situation is very fluid.
“Some are fleeing, many have relatives to go to further west. Some are on their way to Poland. Shelling has been intensive. The sirens go off five or six times a day.
“The tower block is a scary place to be, there’s a risk of the windows shattering with the explosions. Everyone is huddling for safety in the central corridor, it is the only place to go.”
Steve’s charity can be found at www.dniprokids.com
