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In Hazebrouck, in the North, a textile company offered employees of its kyiv subsidiary to join the parent company, located in Flanders. Five women have agreed to leave everything to join the North.
Work away from sirens and the crash of bombs. Luda is one of 20 employees of the kyiv design office of the northern textile company Lener-Cordier. She accepted the exodus to France proposed by her employer. “It’s a very complicated decision for me, because I’m from Chernigov. (…) My parents left town and after that I made the decision to come to France to be safe”, says the Ukrainian. Like Luda, five of them have joined the parent company in France.
Supported by their colleagues, they are slowly making their mark. “I feel normal because I work, I don’t think about this situation with the war”, says Svetlana Melnychenko. The northern company, whose ties with Ukraine date back more than 30 years, has brought about fifteen people to safety. Local solidarity comes into play: the city allows refugees to benefit from the social grocery store free of charge. It has also made accommodation available in a senior residence.