Ukrainian and locals gather for prayer service at grave of Yevhen Mishchenko (65), buried without family or friends
Among those who came to say farewell was fellow refugee, Serhii Radov, who speaking with the assistance of Russian speaker Natasha Collins said he has trying to trace Mr Mischenko’s relatives through a friend who has family in Mariupol.
Ms Collins said it was impossible to know whether Mr Mishchenko’s relatives are still living on Lavitsky Street given the destruction wreaked in Mariupol but “they are happy to try so hopefully they will find relatives and break the news to them that he is here in Skibbereen”. “We used to know him as ‘Papa’ because he was the oldest of the Ukrainians who came to town in October – he was only 65 but he looked more 75 but he was a lovely fellow. He had little enough English, but he would engage with you and try his best with you,” said Mr Collins.
Among the locals who came to pay their respects to Mr Mishchenko were Mairead Keane and Liza O’Driscoll, who both brought flowers to lay at the grave in the hillside cemetery overlooking the Ilen river.
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