Dumfries and Galloway Ukrainian community "terrified" over threat of Russian invasion

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Members of the region’s Ukrainian community are “terrified” over the threat of a Russian invasion of their homeland.Former Dumfries headteacher Peter Kormylo told the Standard that they are fearful for their relatives as tensions over a conflict in Europe escalated this week.Mr Kormylo, 71, who was born in Annan, said: “I don’t think it is going to end peacefully.

We are all terrified.“We are fearful of what is to come. My family and friends say they are living in constant fear now and feel sick if they hear a noise in the sky, wondering if it is a plane or a bomber.

Such is the fear of Putin’s Russia.”Russian President Vladimir Putin denies planning an invasion but has amassed 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders and has seized territory there in the past.Mr Kormylo, who lives in Dumfries, confirmed members of the community are in “constant touch” with their loved ones in the country.And he spoke of the support they have been receiving from people across the region sympathising with their plight.He said: “It is heartwarming to receive messages of support and we do appreciate them.“We have had correspondence from other European migrants in Dumfries and Galloway too who sympathise with us – Poles and from the Baltic countries, Lithuania and Estonia.”He has invited people in Dumfriesshire to show their support by leaving messages at the Ukranian Memorial Stone in the garden of the chapel within the former POW Hallmuir camp near Lockerbie.It is one of only two remaining that were constructed in Scotland during WWII and is currently closed for renovations and repairs but the grounds are open.Mr Kormylo’s late father, Michael, was a prisoner of war who settled in Annan and married local lass, June.He said: “Unfortunately the