A Canadian trying to lead war-displaced Ukrainians to safety says Russian bombing has trapped him in Chernihiv for three days as food and water supplies dwindle. Speaking on Friday from a bomb shelter in the heavily damaged city in northern Ukraine, Lex Brookovsky said he believed the bombing was an immoral tactic aimed at innocent people trying to escape the conflict. “It’s dirty. It’s unfair because what the Russian military is doing is just holding hostage civilians,” said Brookowski, a New Scotland lobster fisherman who traveled to his homeland of Ukraine to offer aid two weeks ago. “They are not fighting army after army. They are building their army against normal people.” He drives a van with about a dozen passengers, including women, children and the elderly, as part of a humanitarian convoy trying to transport people to safety in the western part of the country. Brookowski told the Canadian press that there was a limited supply of food and water in the city and that heating and electricity were not working. He said the bombings had destroyed a key bridge leading out of Chernihiv, adding that other routes were quickly filled with refugee convoys trying to flee each time the bombing subsided. Whenever there is calm in the bombing, Brookowski’s motorcade tries to load the refugees, who are waiting in a shelter, but the rockets and bombs have started again, targeting roads and bridges, he said. “I have a truck full of elderly people, women and children who now cry whenever they get in and out (of the vehicle). It is difficult to run back and forth from the shelter to the van,” he said. The lobster raised money for humanitarian aid and left his fishing boat in Meteghan, NS, two weeks ago to come to Ukraine – a country where he spent his childhood and where most of his family lives. He said the situation for the city’s residents was becoming increasingly desperate after a month of attacks. “We are stuck. We do not know what to do,” he said in an interview. “We hope for the best. We hope that someone will negotiate some kind of corridor for us or send an army to help us get out.” About half the population left in the first weeks of the attacks in the city, Brookowski said, and there were routes people could take. Now, he says, people can not go west because of the destruction and bombing of bridges. People he has met have said they do not want to go east to Russia. “Hope is all we have left. We can do nothing but hope for the best,” he said. “But it is cold here. It is not hot, there is no electricity, there is almost no water. Water supplies are very limited. “Apart from sitting in the dark, now people do not know how long their food or water supply will last.” Brukovskiy’s crowdfunding site raises money to bring supplies to people fleeing the war and says it encourages Canadians to continue donating to Ukrainian and humanitarian organizations to help people who have lost their homes and livelihoods. In the Nova Scotia Parliament on Friday, Ronnie LeBlanc, a member of Brukovskiy’s riding of Clare, stood up to pay tribute to the fisherman’s efforts in Ukraine and to the over $ 20,000 donations he has already raised. “I also ask all members of the Nova Scotia Legislature to join me in honoring Lex and all those people who went to Ukraine to make a difference in the lives of Ukrainians,” LeBlanc said. Brookowski said that if he manages to bring his team to safety, he will continue to try to make similar trips. “I do what I came here to do,” he said. “If I can get out of here soon enough, we will regroup and try to get here again. There are a lot of people trying to leave and they can’t.” This Canadian Press Report was first published on March 25, 2022. – With records by Keith Doucette
