It was a concert of anguish, children’s tears and, sometimes, tears of joy. The scene was striking, Saturday, February 26, for anyone approaching the town of Medyka: a continuous flow of people, sometimes staggering, who crossed the border post of this small Polish town, stuck on the border with Ukraine. There, mothers with drawn features pulling a suitcase in one hand, holding their child in the other, stuffed animal in hand. Further, seniors, foreign students or teenagers. But rarely men.
All of them suffer from the belligerent desires of one man, the main person responsible for this massive influx of refugees on Polish soil: Vladimir Putin. Since the Kremlin autocrat issued the order to invade Ukraine on Thursday February 24, an exodus has been triggered. At the time these lines were written on Sunday, nearly 400,000 Ukrainians had fled their country, including more than 200,000 in Poland.
Oriented on the road leading to Lviv, a large city in western Ukraine, the Medyka border post has become one of the major centers of this exodus, forced by the absurd war waged by Moscow. As the land borders have been fully opened to pedestrians by the Polish authorities, thousands of refugees have been flocking in recent days through the border point of Medyka. Most arrive on foot, after a journey of several tens of kilometres. Indeed, on the Ukrainian side, a massive traffic jam of vehicles extends over nearly thirty kilometers, leaving tens of thousands of people waiting. Buses and cars arrive in dribs and drabs. The fault, according to some, to an inefficient Ukrainian bureaucracy. Many therefore choose to drop their car along the way, or pay for taxis that leave them at the back of the queue. Even if it means paying a staggering sum: some people interviewed claim to have paid 200,000 hryvnias (8567 Canadian dollars).
Difficult journeys
Many in Medyka arrive exhausted. Her voice altered by fatigue, Svetlana, who prefers not to mention her last name, has lived through a nightmarish journey. With their sons Alexei, 4, and Igor, 2, they walked more than thirty kilometers to reach the border post of Medyka. “There was no way to go there by car, it was too long, so we walked for twenty-four hours,” says the 33-year-old mother. “On the way, there were a lot of people on foot too. Most of the time they were women with children, very few men crossed the border. In question: the general mobilization decreed by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, preventing men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the territory. “When the invasion started on Thursday, continues Svetlana, we decided to do our business and we left in a hurry. »
Svetlana’s Ukrainian husband, who works in the Czech Republic, came from Prague to Medyka to find her. It is in the Czech capital, from now on, that the family will begin its new life. On Saturday, on the road leading to the Medyka border post monitored by police, hundreds of cars registered in Poland, but also in Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Finland or even Germany lined up. All Ukrainians residing in the four corners of Europe awaiting the arrival of their loved ones. When they see familiar faces appear in the distance, it’s exultation, time for hugs and tears of relief: here they are reunited and in a safe place, far from the violence of the Russian forces.
Whether they are sitting in their vehicle or strolling through the alleys of the border point, concern can be read on the faces of these many Ukrainians in the diaspora. They have their eyes glued to their phones, searching for news of their loved ones despite a random telephone connection.
“We’ve been waiting for twelve hours, but it feels like 36 hours,” laments Valentyn, 23. At the time of the passage of Homework On Sunday, this Polish of Ukrainian origin was still awaiting the arrival of his mother and several members of his family. They too had to walk more than thirty kilometers to get to the Polish border.
A few bumpers further, it is also uncertainty in Igor and Mariana, in their thirties. Leaning on their vehicle, this couple of Ukrainians working in Poznań, in western Poland, drove for more than seven hours on Friday, hoping to collect their family in Medyka. Their relatives may have fled the country on the day of the invasion, but they are still stuck in the bottleneck on the road from Lviv to Medyka. Immobilized for four days, therefore. “At least they are supplied with food by volunteers who, on the Ukrainian side, weave their way through the traffic jam,” reassures Igor.
The Russians have invaded us, I cannot accept this massacre and wait and see. Russia seeks to prevent us from joining NATO and to dominate us, except that Ukraine’s path is Europe, not Russia.
Solidarity
But in this atmosphere of distress, at the Medyka border post, outpourings of solidarity have multiplied in recent days. Once through the Polish sentry boxes, the refugees are greeted by a sea of simple citizens who brandish cardboard signs: “Free trip to Krakow”, “Free room at home”… Very close, in front of the facade of small restaurants, Food collection centers have been set up. Paramedics and doctors are also on hand to treat those who are injured during their crossing to Poland. This is without counting the imposing mass of clothes and shoes made available to the exiles, arranged on a piece of land.
Artur Polianovski, 27, is one of those who spontaneously mobilized to come to their aid. On this Saturday evening, this 27-year-old Ukrainian, who has been living in Poland for ten years, is pushing a cart which he is about to load with blankets and warm clothes. “I will be here as long as I have the strength. Besides, I just drank an energy drink, it should keep me awake for the next few hours,” he jokes. The next day, around noon, we will find Artur, still with his reflective jacket on his back, distinguishing the volunteers. “I slept in my car for a few hours last night, here I am on my feet again. »
There are also these shuttles which, a little further, go back and forth between Przemyśl, the nearest Polish town. From there, those fleeing the fighting get out of the bus, which immediately heads back to Medyka to transport other refugees. But it does not leave empty: other Ukrainians get on it in turn, heading for the border post. The objective of this trip, to return to Ukraine to participate in the war effort. Red cap pressed on the head, Ruslan Shkola takes place there, after having arranged his large suitcase and his lattice bag in the trunk of the vehicle. The 34-year-old has never held a gun in his life, but who cares: “I arrived in Poland a week ago for a job, and in the meantime war broke out. I can’t stay out there waiting for my house to be bombed. We must go to war. »
Arriving in Medyka, from where he then took the road to Ukraine, Ruslan Shkola met other Ukrainians who had come to seek refuge in Poland. A crossover that is disconcerting. “The Russians have invaded us, I cannot accept this massacre and remain wait-and-see. Russia seeks to prevent us from joining NATO and to dominate us, except that the path of Ukraine is Europe, not Russia,” he blurted out. “And even though I don’t have any military training, I’m going to learn how to make Molotov cocktails. Besides, one of my friends is a drinker and has several bottles of vodka at home, it could be useful…”