Ukraine invasion: Cambridge couple paint house in blue and yellow in show of solidarity with Ukrainians
The couple spent almost 拢80 to paint their house in the colours of the Ukrainian flag after saying they felt "Russia had been the aggressor".
Wednesday 2 March 2022 16:51, UK
A couple from Cambridge have painted their house in blue and yellow to show their support for people in Ukraine.
Rend Platings and her husband Michael used two five-litre tubes of paint in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, costing £76, to decorate their home in Cambridge on Sunday.
The couple, who have an eight-year-old daughter, said neighbours have been supportive.
"It was my husband's idea," Mrs Platings said.
"He just assumed other people would have done it anyway.
"He sent me a WhatsApp with some tubs of paint that he bought, and said 'How about we paint the house, what do you think?'
"I said 'That would be amazing'."
Key developments:
- Boris Johnson accuses Putin of 'war crime'
- Abramovich slaps £3bn price tag on Chelsea as Russian sets bid deadline
- Russian troops move 'closer and closer' to Kyiv
- Supermarket shelves empty in Lviv and Kyiv
- Everton Football Club cut ties with Russian sponsors
'Russia has been the aggressor'
Mrs Platings, who is the chief executive of a charity, said he decided to paint his house blue and yellow to "show our support for our friends in Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people in this crisis".
"Unequivocally we feel that Russia has been the aggressor, the bully," she said.
"There are very few cases where there are so clearly bad guys and such a wrong thing to happen to people. We especially feel for the parents who are over there and the children.
"There are heartbreaking stories of children that are running out of medicine, need treatment, that are scared to leave their homes or their bunkers and cellars.
"They are left with a choice none of us would want to have."
Follow the Daily podcast on
Mr Platings, who is Iraqi, said that "maybe it makes me a little be sensitive around war issues", adding that she was in Ukraine recently to see friends.
"One of my best friends is there now and she's just heartbroken," she added.
Social media is 'impermanent'
Her husband said that he finds "social media to be impermanent", and painting his house "could be something that carries on longer than the average attention span on Twitter".
"It's really not about us but people have said they're proud to be our friends," he added.
"People in Ukraine have appreciated the support that they're getting from everyone all over the world."
The conflict has entered the seventh day, with thousands of Ukrainians displaced, many others dead or injured, and people seeking shelter in underground bunkers.
Western governments have imposed sanctions on Russia while sporting bodies have taken their own actions against the country.
Read more: What sanctions are different countries around the world imposing on Russia and will they work?
People have taken to the streets in cities across the world to protest the Kremlin's actions and football teams have shown their support for Ukraine before matches.
A street artist from Hampshire created a mural of a weeping eye in the colours of the Ukrainian flag in Cardiff.