Scarlets Board member and former club Chairman Nigel Short has recently returned from an emotional visit to war-torn Ukraine.
As Chairman of Penderyn Distillery, Nigel undertook a 44-hour journey to the Ukranian capital Kyiv, where he spent two days visiting one of the company’s importers and experiencing a city that has been ravaged by two and a half years of conflict.
During his stay, Nigel posted a series of video blogs documenting his experiences (which you can find at the bottom of the article).
“A lot of people have asked me why I’m going to Ukraine,”said Nigel, before his departure. “The easy answer is that I’m going to support our importers there. They buy a lot of Penderyn Whisky from us. The Ukrainians love Penderyn.
“The longer answer is more complicated, and I think I’ll need to come back to that during the trip, but it’s certainly something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, even if it’s just some small show of solidarity.”
During his stay Nigel talks of missile attacks, sirens throughout the night, being shown the air-raid shelter on his arrival at his hotel, seeing burned out tanks and armoured cars and visiting war memorials where thousands of photographs are posted on church walls and squares to remember and pay tribute to the fallen.
In his final blog before returning home, he says: “I am physically and emotionally absolutely exhausted. Two days with air-raid sirens and reminders on every street corner that you are in a country at war just creates a low-level tension which you don’t realise at the time, but it does catch up with you. And that is just two days, that is without the constant worry that one of your loved ones might get killed on the front any time, that your family and friends are refugees spread all over Europe. My respect and admiration for what the Ukrainians have put up with for two and half years is boundless.
“The welcome I had from everyone was just tremendous. They were so pleased to see me and genuinely happy for any level of support. I wish all Ukranians good luck, a speedy victory and above all peace for the future, you deserve it.
“It was a remarkable, wonderful, sad experience, undoubtedly the most interesting, difficult and rewarding trip that I have ever done.”
Blog #1 – https://youtu.be/izwZOl8ueWA
Blog #2 – https://youtu.be/2HWvLWcetlM
Blog #3 – https://youtu.be/iUbzTl2qcAw
Blog #4 – https://youtu.be/5LXvdUMwHnc
Blog #5 – https://youtu.be/nllQ225RQ2I
Blog #6 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCTzsuQSa48