About thirty kilometers from Kees Huizinga’s farm, a Russian cruise missile landed in a residential area in the city of Uman. The missile hit a flat.
Last night was the first time that a bomb fell so close to Huizinga’s farm. Ukraine experienced another massive rocket attack last night.
Huizinga, who comes from Emmen, has been living in the heart of Ukraine for almost twenty years, where he has an agricultural business. His wife and children now live in Emmen again. At the beginning of the war, an ammunition depot was blown up a few tens of kilometers away, and so far it has remained that way.
“Nothing has actually ever happened here all this time,” says Huizinga. “It was an island of tranquility here, but now it is getting closer.” He does not immediately feel unsafe, but it does force him to face the facts: it is war and he is also in the middle of it. “And that just makes me angrier and more determined.”
In the early morning Huizinga heard the explosions. “As if you hear the thunder rumble in the distance.” After learning what had happened, he immediately drove over to shoot a video.