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‘I don’t want my kids to play war’: Life on the road for Ukraine’s displaced and homeless citizens | The Independent

2022-03-01 00:00:00.0 独立报-世界新闻原网页

As the bombs began to fall on the edge of the Ukrainian capital, targeting the Vasylkiv air base to the south of Kyiv, Tetyana Filevska’s children turned to their mother for answers. The sky was black outside, the sounds distant and thunderous. But there was no fear, just curiosity.

“They asked: ‘Mum, what is that? What’s that noise?’” says Tetyana. But she could not communicate the gravity of what was unfolding just two miles away from her home. The language of war is not one spoken by children, so, instead, she told her two-year-old and six-year-old “something had happened” and that they were leaving immediately for their grandparents in the north-west of Ukraine.

“I was in shock,” Tetyana says. “I had this feeling of… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like you don’t feel anything. You’re paralysed inside. You can’t really think or feel anything. You just have to escape. It’s something very instinctive.”

Five days later, with her homeland caught in the grasp of a violent and ruinous invasion launched by Russia, Tetyana and her family remain displaced. They are safe, for now, but there is little certainty as to what lies ahead, their lives thrown into disarray.

Across the country, millions of others like Tetyana have fled the conflict, seeking refuge in the homes of relatives and strangers. Those with nowhere to turn in Ukraine itself have looked outward, to Poland, Moldova, Hungary and elsewhere.

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In the fog of war, it is not clear if and when any of these people will be able to return to their homes, and whether they have the desire to do so.

Nonetheless, the migratory repercussions of the conflict are already manifesting. According to the UN, more than 500,000 people have crossed Ukraine’s borders since last Thursday. Estimates suggest this figure could reach as high as 4 million.

As the war rages in the streets and fields of Ukraine, the mass displacement of its people is a responsibility that the whole of Europe now shares. Governments and politicians cannot look away from the mounting humanitarian crisis, one that will undoubtedly reshape the continent.

Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian MP who has left her home in Kyiv and taken refuge in the outskirts of the city, is clear in her message to Europe’s leaders. “You must be prepared to support those who are fleeing,” she says.

For those gathering on the borders, waiting to gain entry to other countries, “the humanitarian assistance that needs to be coming in must include medical kits, must include petrol, must include food supplies,” Vasylenko adds.

Nations must also be willing to welcome those seeking refuge, she says, while countries “like the UK need to give visa waivers to people on the move, especially if they’re trying to reunite with relatives abroad”.

Support The Independent’s Refugees Welcome campaign, which is calling on the British government to set up a properly-funded resettlement programme for Ukrainians fleeing the war.

Ukraine’s immediate neighbours, renowned for their hardline stance on refugees and migration, have all flung open their borders. Moldovan president Maia Sandu said her country was ready to welcome Ukrainian citizens and would help those arriving in their “humanitarian needs”.

Poland announced its willingness to take “as many as there will be at our borders”, while even Hungary prime minister Viktor Orban, who once described migrants arriving in Europe as “poison”, said his country was “prepared to take care of them, and we’ll be able to rise to the challenge quickly and efficiently”.

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Ukraine crisis 23 January 2022 An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman, watches through spyglass in a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Gorlivka, Donetsk region

AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine crisis 23 January 2022 An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman, caresses a dog in a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Gorlivka, Donetsk region

AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine crisis 23 January 2022 An Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman, looks on in a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near Gorlivka, Donetsk region

AFP via Getty Images