Page 52 from: Recycling International May/June issue 2023
52
‘Physically I’m here with you in this
London restaurant but my head is with
my family and friends in Kherson. I
feel stressed, my thoughts are a roller
coaster. Most of the time I can’t stop
myself from scrolling the news sites:
another day of shelling, killing inno-
cent people. I know friends who lost
husbands and cousins in the war.
Luckily, I’ve found a nice job at EMR
and they’ve been a great support. You
know, work helps, it distracts a bit.
‘For a long time I did not allow myself
to smile, feeling guilty about the peo-
ple I’ve left behind. My mother and
my grandmother are in Kherson which
is basically still a war zone. The
Russian troops may have left but
they’re not far away. There is occa-
sional shelling from across the river.
So I’m worried. And yet, sometimes I
feel a smile coming back to my face. I
allow myself to enjoy small things
again.
SWITCHING OFF PRODUCTION
‘The invasion on 24 February came as
a shock. You could see helicopters
and there were reports of bombings
of fuel tanks and other targets. People
were leaving the city while my boss at
MZ, Andriy Putilov, ordered our facili-
ty engineers to switch off production
lines.
‘With Russian tanks in the streets,
heavy fighting, and schools and build-
ings being destroyed, it was no longer
safe to stay in our homes so we decid-
ed to seek refuge in a hotel basement
with several other employees of MZ
and their families. We tried to make
the best of these difficult times. We
were with 20 people in one room
where we cooked our meals from the
food we’d brought from home and
tried to get some sleep on beds pro-
vided by the hotel manager. The
sound of shelling and bombing was
terrifying and I kept worrying about
my son: what impact would this all
have on him?
ROADBLOCKS AND SHELLING
‘By mid-March it became too danger-
ous so I decided to leave Kherson –
Kyrylo and me with a good friend. In
two cars we headed west, over small
roads and dirt tracks trying to avoid
roadblocks and staying as far as possi-
ble away from the constant shelling –
which you clearly hear. Very frighten-
ing. It took us two days to reach the
border with Moldova, which would
normally take no more than ten hours.
From Moldova, on to Romania and
Hungary and finally Slovakia where we
could stay at business partner’s for the
time being.
NEW LIFE
‘I thought after one or two months we
would be able to go back home but,
with the war and the violence getting
worse and no sign of an ending, even-
tually we decided to try to get to
western Europe. I got in touch with
the people from EMR and they decid-
ed to help and offered me a job. I’m
really thankful to EMR’s Murat Bayram
and Bruce Miller for their support and
confidence.
‘At EMR I work as business develop-
ment manager in non-ferrous scrap,
working from Bedford which is half-
way between London and
Birmingham. I’m on the other side of
aluminium business now which is dif-
ferent from my job at MZ where I was
mostly involved in trading aluminium
ingots. I’m impressed how big the
company is, especially in the UK
where they have so many sites, and
there is so much to learn. In my job
I’m also visiting yards which is actually
a good way to get used to driving on
the left side of the road.
A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
‘Kyrylo and I found a nice place to
live. We have our own private apart-
ment which is part of larger house
owned by a family with four kids and
they’re so nice. We felt very welcome
from the first day. There’s a big yard
and a pool, Kyrylo loves it. It’s tough
for him, too: new school, new lan-
guage, making new friends. His days
in school are long: in the morning at
the English school which is opposite
our house and then online at the
Ukrainian school.
‘A good friend and former colleague
at MZ is also in the UK. She’s my son’s
godmother. It feels very good to have
people around you know well.
‘Looking at the future or making long
term plans is hard. I miss my country,
my mother and grandmother, the smell
of fresh vegetables and fruits in the
summer. Kyrylo often says: “Mom, I
want to go back to Ukraine” but look-
ing at it realistically that is not going to
happen in the short term. I hope one
day Ukraine will be a country as before.
But it will take a long time to rebuild all
that’s been destroyed. I’ve seen mas-
sive destruction. Schools, hospitals,
apartment buildings, all gone. There is
no longer an airport in Kherson, nor in
Odessa. Before the war, Kherson had a
population of 300 000, there’s maybe
20% left now.
FURNACES INTACT
‘What about the future of MZ? The
facility is still there, the furnaces are
still intact. There has been some loot-
ing of office furniture but nothing seri-
ously destroyed. Andriy, the owner, is
eager to re-open the plant as soon he
gets the chance. He is such an opti-
mist. He’s confident that Ukraine will
win this war and MZ will be back in
business. I hope he’s right.’
50-51-52-53_evgeniagordeeva.indd 52 04-05-2023 09:43
