Viktoria Lisianska’s eyes immediately welled up with tears when Insider asked if any of her family was still back across the border in Ukraine. “Yes, …
Viktoria Lisianska’s eyes immediately welled up with tears when Insider asked if any of her family was still back across the border in Ukraine. “Yes, my parents,” she said. “I begged them to go with us,” but they didn’t want to leave. “I just had to leave because I had to save the life of my child,” she said. Sitting on a cot in a shopping mall that had been turned into a refugee transit center in Korczowa, Poland, she looked simultaneously exhausted and alert — as if she couldn’t believe that she was finally in a safe place. Lisianska,36, fled with her daughter and niece from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which Russian troops have been indiscriminately attacking with a relentless barrage of artillery, rockets, and missiles. Her daughter’s school was bombed, she said, and it no longer exists. The windows of her home in Kharkiv were also shattered amid the Russian onslaught. “They’re bombing schools… They’re bombing everywhere, just everywhere,” Lisianska said of the Russian military. She was on her way to Berlin, with no idea when she’d be able to return to Ukraine. Her story shares the contours of so many of the millions of Ukrainians who’ve fled their country. They’ve been through hell. They’ve left family behind, and are terrified they’ll never see them again. They’ve traveled for hours and hours to reach safety in Poland, Hungary, and other neighboring countries as Russian attacks slaughter civilians and shatter infrastructure. Many wondered if they were really safe now. By foot, bus, and train, they’ve left their homes because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war in their country. Russia has repeatedly targeted civilian areas in Ukraine, bombing hospitals and theaters — killing pregnant women, children, and journalists in the process. The war is only a few weeks old, and Russia has already been widely accused of war crimes. More than three million Ukrainians have left since Russia attacked their country in late February. Though it could be some time before they’re able to return home, a number of Ukrainians in Poland told Insider they do not want to pursue refugee status. Yulia,30, a hairdresser from a town near Kyiv, brought her hairdressing kit with her on the harrowing journey into Poland. She’s heading to Germany. Like many Ukrainian refugees Insider spoke to, she only offered her first name. She doesn’t want to be seen as a refugee, she said, laying out the shiny tools of her trade on her cot in the Korczowa mall. She just wants to work.
