An Edinburgh man has launched a fundraising campaign to assist a Ukrainian sports official and orthopaedic surgeon whose Kyiv home was destroyed by a Russian drone strike.
Martyn Spence, an international sports official from Colinton, met Maria Kotova while they were both working at the Shotgun World Championship in Greece in late September. While Maria was abroad working as a Range Officer at the competition, a Russian drone hit her apartment building. The attack obliterated her flat and utilities, leaving only a burnt-out shell and destroying her husband’s motorcycle. Maria returned from Greece to find that her work backpack was virtually all she had left.
Currently, Maria and her husband are staying in a spare room provided by a colleague while they wait to see if their damaged building can be reconstructed. Kyiv continues to face ongoing attacks and utility disruptions, with many areas relying on noisy generators for power. Despite the hardship, Maria and her husband spend their evenings and weekends returning to the apartment building to clean away soot and smoke residue.
Deeply moved by her situation, Martyn Spence set up an online fundraiser supported by fellow championship officials and competitors to help Maria and her husband rebuild their lives. Martyn noted that meeting someone personally and hearing about such devastation highlights the true human cost of the conflict, contrasting with simply reading about the war in the media.
The global sports community has responded generously to the campaign, raising over £7,000 so far through donations ranging from small amounts to hundreds of pounds.
