The escalation of the war in Ukraine has caused civilian casualties and destruction of infrastructure, forcing people to flee their homes seeking safety. Eight million refugees from Ukraine have crossed borders into neighbouring countries and many more have been forced to move inside the country. The Russian invasion caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.
I traveled to Zakarpattia Oblast and talked to Ukrainians who had fled from the frontline to the western part of the country to temporary shelters.
April, 2022
Mukachevo, boxing gym - „My house and workplace are also in ruins” (Kirill, 34)
„On the morning of February 24, we woke up to the sound of a nearby bomb in our apartment in Kharkiv. Its shock waves were so strong that the entire building shook. We packed up our most important things and left for my parents, in a nearby village. There, because of the bombings, we fled to an underground cellar. Around ten o'clock, the Russians were already at the border of the village, where they clashed with the Ukrainian defenders. That first day seemed so long, like a year. It was the longest day of my life. We left on the 11th day of the war, after all our food was gone. The shops were empty, ransacked or in ruins. There was no electricity or mobile connection. The residents of our apartment building created a Viber group where they informed each other about the news in Kharkiv. This is how I found out later that our home was hit by a rocket in the first days. I worked in a BMW showroom, where I sold motorcycles, I loved my job. The whole building was bombed to the ground. My house and workplace are also in ruins.”
Uzhhorod, sports hall - „I don't get out of bed even if there's a war” (Volodimir, 20)
„On February 24, my brother woke me up, he said that the war had broken out. I didn't believe him. I said I don't get out of bed even if there's a war, so I went back to sleep. I was later woken up by a huge explosion. I went out into the street and saw another missile hit. That's when I started getting stressed, so my friends and I got together and brainstormed about what to do. By the evening I had calmed down, I accepted, okay, there's a war, but I'll still be sleeping in my comfortable bed, not down in the basement. We left Kyiv on March 5, my mother traveled to Slovakia with my two younger brothers, and I traveled to Uzhhorod with my older brother. We cannot leave the country because we are conscripted. My brother got a job at the local post office, but otherwise it's hard to find a job. The population of Uzhhorod is 100,000, so far more than 40,000 refugees have arrived in the city, many of them would work. We regularly receive aid, and we put aside my brother's salary so that we can go back to Kyiv.”
Vynohradiv, college - „The main thing is that my little son is safe” (Tamara, 63)
„I knew the war would begin. We planned to leave Kirovohrad on February 26. On the morning of the 24th, my son calls to say that we can't wait, we have to leave today. I know that my neighbor is a Russian sympathizer, since 2014 Russians have come to negotiate with him. On the first day of the war, when I went out into the street, he was celebrating with champagne with others. When they saw me, they shouted: We will kill you!
I went to Uman with my 19 and 40 year old children. The siren sounded four or five times a day, each time we went down to the basement. My older son has asthma (he hasn't been called into the army because of this), the cold basement was not pleasant for him. We wanted to escape abroad, but the boys are not allowed to leave, so we stay here in Zakarpattia Oblast. Even if the war is over, I don't want to go back. Now I know that there are many Russian sympathizers in Kirovohrad, I would be afraid to stay there. I would prefer to go to Italy, to a coastal city, where the climate is more favorable for my son's health.”
Uzhhorod, gymnasium - „It was so cold that even the fish in the aquarium froze” (Katia, 32)
„I'm a butcher. I went to work even after the 24th, because people always need food. I lived in Lysychansk. The frontline was here eight years ago. Here, we are already used to military units, it has become part of our everyday life. I wasn't surprised by the sound of the shots. What really surprised me was that it was an offensive. On one of the first days, the support pole of the high-voltage transmission line was destroyed, where there has been no electricity since then. It was so cold that even the fish in the aquarium froze. The city was under blockade, surrounded by mines. We boarded a train in Sloviansk on March 31. I didn't know where we were going, only that we have to leave. We spent a day and a half on the train. It was terribly crowded and stiflingly hot. Lots of dogs and cats. Tranquilizers were distributed on the train...not only to people. Cats were are also stressed. I really liked the scenery on the way here. We haven't been here before, but now we couldn't enjoy the trip, since we didn't come as tourists, but as refugees.”
Chepa, kindergarten - „Let me kill at least one Russian!” (Lili, 61)
„In Kyiv, I worked as a postman at Ukrposhta, but after the war broke out, I immediately went to the army and asked what I could do to help. I cooked varenyky, borscht (Ukrainian national dishes) and baked bread for the soldiers stationed in the city. Every day I brought them tea and coffee, I tried to do my best, I helped as I could. Later I went to the hospital to help, where the injured soldiers were taken. We arrived in Chepa on March 7. Here, we planted flowers in the garden of the kindergarten, repainted the fence, and we help prepare meals in the kitchen. My son stayed in Kyiv and enlisted in the army. He wants to fight – Let me kill at least one Russian - he said - I hate them so much! I am ready to rebuild the city and the country. Life is often not fair that we have to go through such difficulties. I'm waiting for it to be over and I'm waiting for whoever is responsible for all of this to receive his deserved punishment.”
Onokivtsi, school, classroom - „If Ukrainian land remains our home, we will stay. If it's Russian, we'll go” (Valentin, 33)
„I worked in a shoe factory in Sloviansk. We stayed in the city for a month, thinking it would be over soon. We finally left there by train on March 25. If Ukrainian land remains our home, we will stay. If it's Russian, we'll go. We are Ukrainians, we want to live in Ukraine. Here in Onokivtsi, I walk and play soccer all day with my children. In Ukraine, there is a decree that if a father has 3 minor children, he is not required to serve in the military, he can even leave the country. My wife has two children (from a previous marriage) and we have two children together. However, since not all four children are in my name, they won't let me cross the border for the time being. We wrote to the Ministry, we are still waiting for the decision. We would also like to rent an apartment here, but it is so expensive that we cannot afford it. I haven't looked for a job yet because I don't know what tomorrow will bring. If the paper comes from the Ministry, we will leave immediately, if not, we will stay until the war is over.”
Vynohradiv, college - „A child of the war” (Katia, 20)
„My little son, Mihail, was born on February 25, at 7:45 a.m. in Korosten. This is quite close to the Belarusian border, from where the Russians attacked. The war was already felt then, I heard the shots even in the hospital after I was taken out of the delivery room. Mihail thus became a child of war. The next day I had to leave the hospital because there was not enough room. We tried to get through the war in a cellar, where I caught a cold. We arrived in Vynohradiv on the first of April, my husband (25) brought us here, he went back to Korosten and enlisted in the army. Now he is away for a few days, so he came to visit us. We planned a lot before the war, but now everything is completely hopeless, in this situation it is impossible to plan ahead. I taught in a kindergarten and my husband worked in a sand mine. When it's over, we want to go back and raise our child there.”
Drotyntsi, kindergarten - „My own relatives don't believe me...” (Hanna, 78)
„My husband and I lived in Makariv, a small village near Kyiv. I did not see a Russian soldier, but they persistently sent bombs to the village. They just threw, just threw, just threw. The whole village was on fire. We took the beds down to the basement, lived like this for a month in the middle of the shootings with my husband and sick daughter. On March 30, they came for us with buses, for old people, to rescue us. The young people fled Makariv a long time ago. Every morning and every evening we pray together here, we ask God for peace as soon as possible. I thank God that the Ukrainian people are so strong that they can endure this difficult situation and stick together. My relatives live in Moscow, we used to be on good terms, but now we are enemies. It's been eight years since they didn't believe me. The propaganda there is so strong that they do not believe that there is a war here. I tell them what I went through, that people are killed here, cities are bombed, but my own relatives don't believe me...”
Chepa, kindergarten - „My mother tongue is Russian, but I'm only willing to speak Ukrainian!” (Katerina, 34)
„I worked as a hairdresser in downtown Kyiv. We spent the first day of the war in the basement of our 20-story apartment building. There were a lot of us, in a very small space, people were lying on top of each other on the floor. My husband immediately enlisted in the army, he already had military experience. In everyday life, I spoke Russian with everyone, in the family, at work, everyone understood and accepted me, there were no problems. Of course, I can also speak Ukrainian, as I studied at a Ukrainian school. My native language is Russian, but now I'm only willing to speak Ukrainian since the war broke out! I don't want to look like the enemy in any way. We hate all Russians. Russian people, Russian dogs, everything Russian. We arrived in Zakarpattia Oblast on March 12, we fled mainly because of my children, I wanted to protect them. Even so, hiding in the basement caused enough trauma for them. My daughter starts crying every time she hears the siren. It sounds twice last night too...”
Berehove, Viktor's half-finished apartment - „The sky was lit up with the light of the rockets” (Tatjana, 27)
„I lived in Irpin with my husband and 1-year-old son, I worked in an apartment renovation team. On the first day of the war, I looked out the window, the sky was lit up with the light of rockets. In fifteen minutes we packed up and went to the Kirovohrad area. My husband stayed there, he works for the government, and we heard from Viktor, one of our acquaintances, that he could accept us in his half-finished apartment in Berehove. The house was unplastered, and only the basic things, such as water, electricity, and heating were connected, but we were happy to move there. The point was not to hear the war. He took in four families, and we all tried to help him finish the apartment. The men laid parquet floors, built stairs, and installed furniture and table tops in the kitchen. We, mothers, bake and cook in the kitchen, take care of the children, at least until then we don't think about the horrors of war.”