Europe is once again the scene of the exodus due to a war, something that has not been seen since the last century. “The war has taken my lifethat of my friends, that of my family”, recounts a victim of this warlike conflict initiated by Putin. Long queues of people are already seen on highways and streets trying to flee from Ukraine. Silence is mixed with desperation. By the steps border crossing buses do not stop arriving full of the hardest stories.
Disoriented by the haste and anguish of the journey, the refugees pick up their first vibers in days. Improvised humanitarian aid floods the soil of the borders. “It is an emergency response that has not been seen in Europe since the 1980s and 1990s,” Vicente Raimundo, director of International Cooperation at Save The Children, explained to laSexta. Ukraine is bleeding from all its borders and, wherever you look, there are too many children.
“Children, mothers, they spent the night outside, leaving everything behind,” said James Leder, a UNICEF member on the border with Ukraine. Today, more than 370,000 people have already left Ukraine; for Poland, about 156,000; for Slovakia, 7,200; for Hungary, 26,000; for Romania, 15,000; or by Moldova, 32,000. But not all have managed to flee. In Ukraine there are only bombs and the sound of sirens. And for many Ukrainians, there are only two ways out: hide or flee.
This is how Natascha lived it, who packed her bags in 20 minutes to flee 50 kilometers from Kiev with her husband, an 82-year-old grandmother and her two children: “When your children see the orange sky, hear gunshots and explosions, that decision is made very quickly.” She told it on laSexta Noche, from inside a closet to avoid being discovered by the light of her mobile, she ready to defend her family: “We prepared in 2014. Since then, the weapon is in our House”.
Olena also spends her nights in the dark. “I’m under a blanket with my phone so it won’t be seen on the street“, she also told laSexta Noche. She fled from Kiev, desperate, with her children, when the tanks entered the city. The most difficult thing, as she has said, is to convince them that everything is fine, to get them away from the idea of war by recreating scenarios where they have been happy: “On the first day at home I told them it was the safest place, although it wasn’t.” This fourth night of bombings they take refuge in their grandparents’ house, where they spent the summers.
Others, like Kristina and Oleksii, do it in the bunker of their building while helping however they can. “Someone buys military equipment, we give interviews to tell what is happening“. They have no plans to flee. They have grown up with the war, in Donekst and Crimea: “We are a couple who already know what war is, the sound of bombs and Russian troops.” And they are willing to do anything to defend that dream ukrainian
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
