Worry, the first message from Kees

Source: RTV Noord, February 24, 2022

The scale of the Russian invasion of Ukraine also surprised Kees Huizinga. The existence that the Groningen agricultural entrepreneur has built up in the country has been turned upside down since Thursday morning.

"My wife left for Kiev yesterday to fly to the Netherlands for a few days," Huizinga says on the phone. "But she called me in the middle of the night and told me all flights had been cancelled. Fortunately, she was able to return home before the traffic jams.”

Internal roads and back roads

His wife is now on the road again, this time with their two children. Huizinga: 'They left by car for Romania, where friends of ours live. They drive on back roads and back roads, which we know well. They have extra gas with them.'

Huizinga hopes for the best. He will remain on his farm for the time being. The entrepreneur has about four hundred employees and that alone entails a lot of responsibility.

“I visited them today in various locations and spoke to them. Personal safety comes first. But they are calm about it. They have received extra wages, so that they can move forward for a while.'

Call for the army

A number of employees have since been called up by the Ukrainian army to fight. Does he know how many employees this concerns?

'No, that is still unclear. I still have to figure all that out', Huizinga sighs. 'The most important thing is that the milking of the cows and the feeding of the pigs continue. And we will have to do that with fewer people than usual.'

Six hundred kilometers from the eastern border

Kees Huizinga grew up in Hellum. In 2003 he emigrated to Ukraine. The Huizinga's company is located about six hundred kilometers from Ukraine's eastern border. They keep two thousand cows, among other things. He also grows wheat, barley and sugar beet, among other things.

All in all, a large company, certainly by Dutch standards, that Huizinga and his wife, together with their employees, have built up in almost twenty years.

Ammunition Depots

He himself has not yet learned much from the skirmishes, says Huizinga. “About thirty miles south of here, ammunition depots have been destroyed. I didn't hear that myself, but I did notice that the doors and windows started to rattle. And I noticed that the birds were dead silent.'

The result of a pressure wave? Huizinga: 'It could be, I don't know.'

It was also clear to Huizinga that something was about to happen. But the fact that Russian President Putin would proceed with a large-scale invasion also surprised the Groninger. Until today, he didn't think things would go so fast.

'In retrospect, that was extremely naive, retarded and stupid of me,' says Huizinga now. "But I've never seen a war."

Other world order

Yet Huizinga chooses to remain for the time being, as a captain on the ship. But if he really has to, he will also get himself to safety.

'I also have a car here with extra gas, so I can leave in a minute.' How to proceed? He has no idea: 'I wonder what Putin is up to. It's like a suicide mission. I do know that we will soon have a completely different world order.'