As Kyiv came under attack from the Russian army, Viktoriia packed a suitcase and started an exhausting five-day journey to safety in Sydney | niltiac
Just over a week ago, Viktoriia packed a small suitcase and fled her apartment in Kyiv as the Russians started bombing the Ukrainian capital.
“I started to pack, still being not sure if it is worth leaving Kyiv or not. I could not believe that Russia would start a real war against the neighbouring country. The train arrived in Lviv six hours late after taking a circuitous route to avoid bombing. She found the city packed with refugees from all over Ukraine, all trying to get trains or buses amid freezing temperatures.
A Polish volunteer drove Viktoriia and four other women to Warsaw and the next day she boarded a flight to Sydney, via Istanbul and Singapore. Gillian Triggs, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, said about a million Ukrainians had crossed the border since the invasion, mostly to Poland but also to Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, and neighbouring countries had responded generously. But, Dr Triggs warned, people with fewer resources would “find it exceptionally difficult to leave.”
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