Bunbury event to raise funds for Ukraine

As the sounds of war echo through their former homeland, two Ukrainian women offered classical music to a Bunbury crowd.

Anna Bogachova and Irina Buevska-Cowell played to about 100 on Sunday afternoon in St Augustine Uniting Church in a fundraising concert for Ukraine that was organised by the the Rev. Greg Ross.

Mr Ross said the church and its congregation have been in support of Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbour in 2022.

Both Ms Bogachova and Ms Buevska-Cowell moved to Australia before the war but still have relatives in Ukraine.

Both women graduated from Kharkiv National University of Arts, which, although still standing, now bears the scars of war.

Ms Buevska-Cowell’s family lived in Kharkiv, the scene of the heaviest fighting at the beginning of the war, with massive artillery bombardments and regular missile and drone attacks taking their toll on the civilian population.

Ms Bogachova’s parents still reside in the Dnipro area, well known as a scene of fierce fighting during the last year.

“I am really concerned for my family. I worry about my brother. He is in the military, he is at the front,” Ms Bogachova said.

She is in contact with family and relatives each day and has an app on her phone that has sirens go off when attacks are imminent.

“It happens a lot,” she says.

A digital sign at the front of St Augustine church often flashes with the message “We stand with Ukraine”.

And at the concert on Sunday the audience responded with strong applause in support of the women and their cause.