“Since the curfew ended, at seven in the morning, we left in a car to go away from Kiev,” says Katty Solís, a 19-year-old young woman from Ambato who only five months ago arrived in Ukraine to study Psychology.
This Friday, Katty along with four other compatriots decided to leave the capital and have been able to advance to Rivnea city in the northwest of the country, where they will spend tonight, since the current curfew does not allow them to advance further.
“Our country did not know how to help us, not even because a bomb fell on us in the middle of the capital, not to mention the people who were at the borders. The government had time and did absolutely nothing”, questions Katty.
“As we were leaving we saw war tanks and planes heading for the capital. For now, tonight we’ll stay here, since this city has a curfew and we still have about four hours to go to Lviv“, it says.
“All my things are in my house; I only went out with a backpack and nothing else. My clothes, shoes… everything is in the place where I used to live,” she says.
The five compatriots seek to reach any nearby country to escape what is happening in Ukraine due to the ongoing Russian offensive.
“There are rumors that it is not safe in Moldova, that we cannot enter Romania without a Schengen visa and that it is very crowded in Poland, and also that they are attacking Lviv. The truth is that we don’t know what to do… Sirens are heard here, bombardments. And in Kiev the situation is worse: People were even taken from the trains with guns and tear gas canisters”, she says in anguish.
Katty mentions that they have learned that the Ecuadorian government has established a meeting point in Lviv for buses to cross the border to Poland. “That’s what they say, but there is no evidence or witnesses,” she says, and considers that these actions are being carried out too late.
“The only thing some of us want is to get out… I have Ecuadorian friends still in Kiev who are looking for a way to get out on a train to Lviv, hoping they won’t get off and they can get there,” he says, and urges the government to help. with humanitarian flights to Ecuador from Poland.
The young Ambateña says that, if you have the opportunity to return to Ecuador, I would immediately; but he comments that this is not the case for all, since many of the compatriots are currently only seeking to reach nearby places in the hope that the situation will end soon.
That is the position of Naomi Lema, a 21-year-old from Riobamba, who has not yet been able to leave Ukraine, but is looking to do so in the next few hours.
Naomi has lived for three years in Zaporizhzhiaa city in southeastern Ukraine, and says that returning to Ecuador would be unfortunate, having to leave his life there and almost finished a career.
“I very much doubt that the Ecuadorian State will help us in one way or another; and going back would be a complex decision. In my opinion, I would opt for the possibility of staying around here, to work and be able to finish my studies”, he points out.
At the moment, the young woman has a plan together with other people to go to the train station, from where she learns that they are sending trains to Lviv and then to cross to Poland, a trip of more than 16 hours.
“The Ecuadorian State is not helping us in any way to be able to leave the small cities, or any other,” he says..
However, he highlights that the measure announced by the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry so that compatriots who have left Ukraine can enter Poland and Slovakia without a Schengen visa and with a humanitarian visa to Hungary is something positive in the midst of the whole situation.
However, Naomi comments that she is concerned about how they will be able to support themselves or where they will go once they have arrived in Poland.
“Once you are in Poland, each one has to see for himself, and it is very unfortunate that we do not have the necessary support when our lives are at stake,” he says.
However, Ecuador has assured that it maintains several emergency channels enabled for compatriots in Ukraine. Ecuadorians can communicate through the following ways:
- To the number + 43 676897358700
- To the email address consular@ecuadorvienna.net
- Or through the social networks of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram of the Foreign Ministry
So far, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, reported that more than 50,000 Ukrainians have fled their country since the beginning of the Russian invasion, early Thursday, but other media place the figure total in more than 100,000. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
