(Przemysl) Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and dozens of children, spent the night at a train station in neighboring Poland after fleeing the Russian invasion on Thursday, anxiously scrolling news from the front line on their phones.
Posted at 10:46 a.m.
“I come from Kyiv. I heard the explosions next to my building… and I quickly packed my bags, took almost everything with me,” said Olha, a 36-year-old teacher from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Hours after fleeing the fighting in her country, Olha arrived, along with some 200 other refugees, at Przemysl train station in southeastern Poland, a few kilometers from the border.
Ukrainians, mostly women, two of whom traveled with their cats, occupy almost all of the seats at the station or are huddled on yellow cots next to their suitcases.
“I feel safe here but I can’t really help my relatives and friends. Many of them are in danger and cannot leave so quickly,” says Olha, who has planned to join her boyfriend in Switzerland.
“There are many difficulties ahead,” she adds, stressing that “Ukraine is not Russia.”
The refugees are surrounded by Polish officials, including police and military. Soldiers in camouflage uniform offer them soup.
They also receive “paczki” donuts, a tradition for the Shrove Thursday celebration in Poland.
“My life changed in half a day”
Seated at a table, other officers register the refugees and help them book their tickets to continue their journey.
Konstantin, a 25-year-old Ukrainian who is pacing, says the bombings and other “very scary things” caused him to leave his country.
“I only saw videos and messages from friends and that made me leave. I’m going to a friend’s house in Germany and then I’ll see what happens,” he told AFP.
“I don’t know when I will go back to Ukraine because I think it’s a huge problem for Ukraine and it could take months, years maybe,” he adds.
Iryna, 42, a business owner, calls Russia’s invasion of Ukraine an “action against humanity.” »
“My life changed in half a day 100%. But it’s very good to know that we have a place to go. Some people have no place to go,” she says.
Asked how long she thinks the war will last, Iryna replies that it’s hard to say: “I would of course like world leaders to come to an agreement and end it quickly”.
“However, I think that Ukraine cannot accept peace on Russia’s terms. Absolutely not. Ukraine is an independent nation that cannot submit to Russia,” she said.