‘At 5am I was walking my dogs outside and I heard these huge explosions’

Among a myriad of stories of devastated civilians in Ukraine is that of a South African cricket administrator.
Kobus Olivier – who in a previous job with Netherlands cricket coached against an Irish under-17 side that featured Eoin Morgan, Kevin O’Brien and William Porterfield -–is among the millions who can do nothing but wait and hope for the best.
Olivier, originally from Cape Town, fell in love with Kyiv while on holiday there four years ago and decided to up sticks. He has since become the director of a chain of schools and the chief executive of the Ukrainian Cricket Federation.
Olivier is currently in his apartment with his dogs, and it was while out walking with them that he witnessed first hand the start of the war.
“At four am the bombs started” he explains. “At 5 am I was walking my dogs outside and I heard these huge explosions that didn’t sound very far away. I ran up to my flat, I haven’t put my nose outside since.
“I don’t speak Ukrainian or Russian so my neighbours came to me a few hours ago knocking on my door to tell me there’s been instructions on their mobiles …

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