A Ukrainian musician who was due to play traditional music in an Irish bar in Kyiv at the weekend has revealed how she was instead making petrol bombs.
Nadia Dobrianska, who learned to speak Irish in lessons in Belfast while studying at Queen’s University in 2019, has fled Ukraine’s capital to escape Russian military air strikes.
She was due to play in a trad session on Sunday past in O’Brien’s, one of five Irish pubs in the centre of the capital.
But instead, Nadia was helping others to make petrol bombs and taking shelter from the Russian air raids.
Irish bars like O’Brien’s and O’Connor’s were open for business a few days previously, but were yesterday closed when contacted by the Irish Mirror.
Nadia said: “We can’t go anywhere because of the bombing.
“I prepared cloth for that [petrol bombing], but it’s not safe to discuss.
“After a few days in a safe house, I am beginning to feel exhausted.
“There was a life before the war started, like I had my Irish classes, but now I have to try to survive.”
Nadia, who works for the non-governmental organisation Human Rights Centre Zmina that promotes human rights in Ukraine, added: “My mother is worried about food shortages.
“There is a shortage of bread, but overall, there is a regular supply. I think people are stockpiling bread,” she told The Dark State podcast.
