Tennis great Martina Navratilova has praised celebrity chef Jose Andres, who is running a humanitarian kitchen in Ukraine, and a beekeeper in the war-torn country. The beekeeper donates the honey he collects to almost anyone who needs it.
Martina Navratilova has shared on Twitter a video recorded by Mr Andres in Chernihiv, a city to the north of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. The chef introduced his “new friend” in the video – a beekeeper.
Chef Andres said the man had lost 80 percent of his hives, his house, and his car in shelling by Russian forces. “But he still donates the honey to hospitals, shelters…Anyone who needs it,” he said.
As the chef continues his conversation with the beekeeper and others, he makes it a point to show the remaining beehives and the partially damaged house. “You see the Ukrainian people, they have the biggest heart. And, people like him are a way how we are going to rebuild Ukraine,” Chef Andres said.
The celebrity chef added that his organisation, the World Central Kitchen, will help the beekeeper rebuild.
Quote-tweeting the post, which was originally shared by Jose Andres, Ms Navratilova wrote, “Heroes, both”. The 18-time Grand Slam winner has also put out a smiley.
Last week, a kitchen run by Jose Andres was hit by a missile in Kharkiv. Four members of the team were injured in the attack.
In a second tweet, Chef Andres called for a cessation of Russian attacks on civilians.
“Food heroes them all. Relief so far that just were 4 wounded…Praying for them. We are food Fighters but the Russian attacks must stop against civilian buildings and markets and churches and schools etc,” he added.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine will soon complete its second month. Recently, Ukraine said it hit and sank a Russian warship named Moskva. It was the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Russia said Moskva went down while it was being towed to the port after a fire incident aboard.