An Edinburgh man is harnessing the power of sport to assist a fellow administrator from Ukraine who returned from world championships to find her Kyiv home devastated by a Russian drone.
Martyn Spence officiated at the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) event in Corinth, Greece, alongside Mariia Kotova and news reached him later of how his colleague – whom he had never previously met – required help to rebuild her life.
He decided to launch a fund aiser – https://www.gofundme.com/f/ipsc-range-officer-made-homeless-by-fire – and so far £7,557 has been raised.
This is how Mariia portrays her situation in a poignant post on social media: “… a Russian drone hit my home. I was on my way home after a long journey — but there was no home to return to anymore.
“The part of the building where we lived is gone. The utilities are destroyed. There is no electricity, no water — nothing. Inside, there is only a black, burned-out emptiness.
“My husband’s motorcycle burned down. The home we knew just yesterday is gone.
“…I am standing with my Range Officer backpack, the one I returned from my trip with only yesterday. Just a few days ago, it was simply my luggage.
“Today, this backpack is everything I have left.
“Not long ago, I was at the World Shotgun Championship, working there as a Range Officer, meeting people from different countries, talking, laughing, making new friends and exchanging contacts.
“For many of them, the war in Ukraine may have been something they saw in the news, in photographs and videos on a screen — something terrible, but still far away.
“At this year’s IPSC General Assembly, a decision was made to allow Russians back into our sport under their national flag.
“Unfortunately, on my way home, the Russian ‘surprises’ did not end there.
“I am writing this first of all because I want people outside Ukraine to understand: this war is not happening somewhere far away.
“It is very real. It comes into ordinary homes, to ordinary families, in the middle of ordinary lives. One day, you have a home, your belongings, your normal life and plans for tomorrow.
“The next day, everything you have left can be carried in your two hands, and you are trying to understand where you will sleep and how to start all over again.
“At the moment my husband and I are staying in a room that a colleague kindly offered us. We have a roof over our heads, where to sleep and even a washing machine which suddenly feels like quite a luxury.
“There was another attack last night and there has been almost no electricity since yesterday. I work at a hospital as an orthopaedic surgeon and have already returned to work.
“Life in Ukraine right now, especially in Kyiv, is very difficult. Air alert sirens, drones and ballistic missiles have become part of everyday life.”
Martyn Spence, 64, a chartered marketer, said: “You put yourself in the position of someone like Mariia and want to do something positive.
“Learning something like this has happened to someone you have been working with really brings it (the Ukraine conflict) home.”
A member of the Land Warrior club based at Colinton, Martyn added: “Donations are coming in from all over the world.”
