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When Nitesh Pal, a Ukrainian businessman of Indian origin, sent his family and colleagues across the country's western border to safety, he assured them he would soon follow.
His wife, Veronika, knew there was some business to settle with his company, which produces seafood.
What she didn't know was that her husband would return to stand alongside thousands of Ukrainians to support their country in the war against Russia.
“I refuse to leave,” said managing director and co-owner of Polar Seafood Ukraine, a subsidiary of a popular Danish brand.
“If everybody packed their bags and left on February 24, there would be no country.”
Every single person is protecting his own for when his family returns
Nitesh Pal,
Indian-Ukrainian businessman
Though his Ukrainian citizenship is relatively new, Mr Pal is a staunch defender of his new country. He was among the first batch of people granted citizenship when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took office in 2019.
“I chose to be Ukrainian because I love this country. The people have amazing spirit — that’s why they are still fighting and why Russia can’t break the country.”
Men aged between 18 and 60 have been barred from leaving Ukraine, with exemptions for those supporting three or more children under the age of 18, as the country attempted to build up its defence forces.
As a father to three children aged between 6 and 14, Mr Pal was exempt and could have left. Two older children live in Denmark, where he worked before moving to Ukraine 10 years ago, and he could have travelled with his family to reunite with them in safety.
Instead, he stayed.
Supplying food
The 49-year-old is a key part of a civilian network that is helping to keep the country running during the conflict, supporting the army, caring for the wounded and making sure supermarket shelves are stocked.
While providing food for people need and armoured vests for soldiers, he is also running his business with a skeleton crew.
Several times a week, he gets behind the wheel to distribute canned fish, shrimp, mussels and herring fillets to retailers. Food runs must be completed before the night curfew kicks in at 11pm.
“The days are long and we use it well. At 4.30am, I’m packed and ready, leaving the gate at 5am sharp,” he said.
A large proportion of the seafood is given away free of charge.
“You need businesses to work, people need to eat. That is what I do. I’m not a soldier but you have to understand your use and get to work. That is how this country will win the war,” he said.
“Fish and canned seafood is in big demand because it’s cheap.
“We are privileged to have a business. We give away as much as we can and try to have a business at the same time.”
Driving lorries to restock stores across dangerous terrain, he said he has found many bodies along motorways. And atrocities such as those that took place in the city of Bucha have shaken him to his core.
“What I feel is anger; it stops the tears from coming out,” he told The National from his home in a small suburb on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“I haven’t yet cried but there will be a time when I will need to cry for a week.”
Lucky escape
The Pals live in a small village five kilometres from the capital, which came under attack soon after the war began in February.
The family slept on mattresses in the bathroom and in a passage between the house and the garage as bombs fell near their home.
The children’s hands trembled with every blast of anti-tank missiles as Russian bombs dropped on nearby warehouses and a petrol station.
They soon lost power and gas, with temperatures dropping below 5°C at night.
His older son, Alex, would follow him at night as he walked around checking the property.
“I went out not knowing what I could [do to protect us] if the Russians came. Nothing can save you, no guns, nothing. I would walk so that if someone shot at us, I would get shot and not him,” Mr Pal said.
He finally managed to convince his family and his staff to leave their homes near Kyiv for safer counties.
On the eighth day of the war, a group of 25 people — ranging in age from a three-month-old baby to a 78-year-old grandmother — packed into five cars carrying signs that read “children”, in hopes it would deter Russian forces from firing on them.
After a nerve-racking journey, the group stayed for two weeks in a town about 200km from Ukraine's western border with Romania.
He then helped staff and their families reach Poland, Spain, Romania and Canada.
The Pal family had a lucky escape, he said. The day after they left, a bomb landed in their neighbour’s yard. The explosion shattered windows and blew open the doors of the Pal home.
“If we were sitting in the kitchen that day, it would have been hell,” he said.
“Maybe nothing would have happened to us. But the kids would be forever traumatised by the sound alone.
“My target was to get people out.”
Grateful to be safe
Veronika, Mr Pal's Ukrainian wife, is with their children in Turkey, where the family has rented a house.
Small sounds such as windows rattling in the wind no longer frighten the children, who are now able to sleep through the night.
“At home, the earth was shivering with the blasts. We were really not sure if we would make it alive,” she said.
“You see in the news so many cars shot, so many dead families. You can’t plan your route because roads are blown up and there is shooting all the time.
“I was 90 per cent ready for death.”
Grateful they are safe, the family feel stuck in a surreal world.
“I understand why [Nitesh] is in Ukraine so I try not to press him to come be with us,” she said.
“I just want to go home, hug my husband, have my family life back. There are still feelings of total panic inside me.”
The family constantly check in on Mr Pal. His eldest daughter, Anna, 23, works in Denmark and calls daily.
“I messaged my family every 30 minutes when the war started,” she said.
“It’s difficult to have your parent in a war zone so I call him every single day.”
Ukrainians are survivors
War upended his life once before, in 1990, during Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.
As a child, Mr Pal lived in the Gulf country and was on holiday in India when the Iraqi army invaded.
The family never returned. Mr Pal recalls having a suitcase in his room filled with photographs of his friends.
“We had nothing, literally nothing. I never saw my room, my house again.”
He lived in India for about two years before moving to work in Russia, then on to Denmark and finally to Ukraine.
Passionate about motorbikes, Mr Pal is the owner of the official BMW Ukrainian race team.
His glimmer of hope is tied to his nine bikes and three cars parked at a nearby track, where he tries to race daily.
“All my bikes and cars are ready to race,” he said.
“This is what I live for, this is what I love.”
He believes the indomitable spirit of his fellow Ukrainians will see them through.
“People are fixing their houses knowing tomorrow maybe [the shelling] will happen again,” Mr Pal said.
“That’s why this country is winning. It’s because every single person is protecting his own for when his family returns.
“Ukrainians have that drive to live a better life. They are fighters, survivors.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: SimpliFi
Started: August 2021
Founder: Ali Sattar
Based: UAE
Industry: Finance, technology
Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals
Saturday's results
Women's third round
- 14-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-2, 6-2
- Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1
- 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-4. 6-0
- Coco Vandeweghe (USA) beat Alison Riske (USA) 6-2, 6-4
- 9-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat 19-Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
- Petra Martic (Croatia) beat Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) 7-6, 6-1
- Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1
- 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-4, 6-0
Men's third round
- 13-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-1, 6-1 -- retired
- Sam Queery (United States) beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
- 6-Milos Raonic (Canada) beat 25-Albert Ramos (Spain) 7-6, 6-4, 7-5
- 10-Alexander Zverev (Germany) beat Sebastian Ofner (Austria) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
- 11-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
- Adrian Mannarino (France) beat 15-Gael Monfils (France) 7-6, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
Results
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m | Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Al Shamkhah, Royston Ffrench, Sandeep Jadhav
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m | Winner: Lavaspin, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m | Winner: Kawasir, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m | Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m | Winner: Bochart, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m | Winner: Quartier Francais, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: M'A Yaromoon, Jesus Rosales (jockey), Khalifa Al Neydai (trainer)
5.30pm: Khor Al Baghal – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: No Riesgo Al Maury, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Khor Faridah – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Mahmouda, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AS Jezan, George Buckell, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7.30pm: Khor Laffam – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Dolman, Antonio Fresu, Bhupath Seemar
Results
2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili
3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat
Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final
UAE squad: Ahmed Raza (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv
EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
ICC T20 Rankings
1. India - 270 ranking points
2. England - 265 points
3. Pakistan - 261 points
4. South Africa - 253 points
5. Australia - 251 points
6. New Zealand - 250 points
7. West Indies - 240 points
8. Bangladesh - 233 points
9. Sri Lanka - 230 points
10. Afghanistan - 226 points
Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
