‘The war brought everyone together. That’s how we survived.’ | SianElvin speaks to Ukrainian women who have been forced to flee their homes with their children.
Since the start of the war, millions of Ukrainian women have been forced to flee their homes with their children.
Some of the women in these crisis rooms have bravely told Metro.co.uk their stories of heartbreak, pain and suffering – but also of hope.‘On the morning of February 24, we woke up and heard the tanks approaching – and those were not our Ukrainian tanks,’ said Olga, who is from Kyiv, tearfully.Olga, 26, is a single mum to a seven-month-old boy and a four-year-old boy The 26-year-old is a single mum to a seven-month-old boy and a four-year-old boy.
Electricity, gas and water supplies soon cut off and neighbours started preparing food for one another and swapping supplies. Olga and other women were referred to a crisis room in Lutsk, where she has remained for more than a month now.Sobbing, Olga said: ‘My brother called me and said that our neighbour had been killed near the garage.She wants to start a new life in Lutsk, but Masha wants to return to Kyiv Russian soldiers apparently went into the house where Olga’s mum, brother, sister and two children were hiding, and, enjoying the moment of power over defenceless people, told them: ‘We killed your father.
Now 20, she had to run away with a one-month-old baby in her arms as there was no electricity or water.‘We spent one night in Lviv and then came here, to Chernivtsi, where I settled in a crisis room. It gives me great happiness with such a small child.’ A friend helped Olena get on an evacuation bus to Sloviansk in early March. On the way, the bus broke down and the women riding in it had to push it down the road – but due to sheer determination, the group made it.Single mum Olena, 39, was left unable to bathe or prepare food for her son, and had been hiding in the basement for days
‘Many of my friends had packed their suitcases a few days [before the war]. And we were in complete confusion.’ ‘One day I was horrified to find myself thinking that we were gradually getting used to the explosions,’ Iryna said, ‘And I started thinking about how to leave Kyiv.’
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