It has been nearly a year since the world woke up to war in Ukraine. The Globe kept in touch with 19 refugees who left in the first weeks of the war. Here are their stories, struggles and life-altering journeys.
‘Sometimes when I sleep, I see dreams that I’m already at my home. I see it like it’s reality. It’s so sad when you wake up and you’re not at home.’‘This word, to hope, believe. It’s really important thinking.’ – Olena Tsebenko
The morning had been a blur – the race out of Lviv after the first bombs hit the city and the brief stop at Andrii’s parents’ house in Sambir. Olena saw the fear in the face of Andrii's mother as she begged them to go to Poland: “Today rockets are falling down and we don’t know what will happen tomorrow.”Mapping the journey: Ukraine to PolandShow the journey
The family at a restaurant in Przemysl. Andrii, 32, left Ukraine only hours before he would have been mandated to stay.It has been nearly a year since the world woke up to war in Ukraine. We kept in touch with 19 people who left Ukraine in the first weeks of the war. They come from all walks of life and they’ve endured varying hardships. But each one has seen their life change forever.‘God gave us what we have now. Everybody is waiting for something better.’ – Halyna Lazar
As the family fled, the line at the Polish border seemed to go on forever. Halyna hoped the few snacks she brought would be enough for Eva, Lisa and the friends they’d crammed into the car. But on the third day, they had nothing left. Just as Halyna began to panic, she noticed people coming out of their homes along the highway, handing out food to everyone in line. “A miracle,” she said, smiling.
Eva loved the Ukrainian school in Przemysl. She loved her new friends. She loved feeling safe, and she found herself skipping and singing down the sidewalk for the first time since the bombs. Halyna Lazar and her daughters Eva and Lisa stayed in Ostrow, Poland, for a short time before moving on to Przemysl. Disoriented, Halyna struggled after fleeing Ukraine.
When the first bombs fell and the Russian soldiers began advancing on Irpin, they had to pack in a hurry. Varvara wanted to take her pet rabbit, Korgik. He’d been a Christmas gift, a special surprise from Santa. The car was jammed but Nataliya couldn’t say no. She tucked Korgik in a cardboard box and made room in the back. “The life of the rabbit was more important than things.”
In July, a call came from a Ukrainian friend who had gone to Norway, and she sang the praises of the country’s refugee program. Ready to move again, Nataliya found a volunteer willing to drive them to Stjordal, in western Norway. She packed their suitcases, and Korgik, and they drove off.Nataliya and Varvara fled Irpin, stopping in Przemysl before continuing to Fano, Italy. Not finding much support there, they later moved to Stjordal, Norway.
As a 25-year-old, Mahmoud would have had to stay in Ukraine were it not for his Egyptian passport. Ten weeks into the war, he was out of the country and in the lobby of a hotel in Katowice, Poland, waiting for a shuttle bus to the airport. He paced, too excited to sit still. He was about to catch a charter flight with a group of other refugees to a place he’d never heard of until a few weeks ago – Newfoundland. All Mahmoud knew is that it’s an island, it’s in Canada and it has a medical school.
Ivan and Olga Antoniuk, ages 31 and 30, walk around their neighbourhood in St. John's, N.L. on Sept. 15, 2022.Olga and Ivan were also in Katowice that day in May, waiting for the flight to this island called Newfoundland. One morning in September, Olga had to rush Bella to the vet. Their pet insurance didn’t cover Bella’s kidney disease and the vet told Olga the treatment would cost $450. She only had $250. A woman in the waiting room overheard the conversation, handed $200 to a nurse, then walked out.
George squirmed as German police officers boarded the train in Dresden. He handed over his passport and the officer glared. It was Russian. George explained that he’s lived in Ukraine for five years and that he had fled Odesa on Feb. 24 with his Ukrainian wife, who was sitting next to him. Nonetheless, the officer hauled George off the train and detained him while officers assessed whether he was a threat to national security. After seven hours, he was released and allowed to stay.
In May, the couple moved to Hartha, a town west of Dresden. They didn’t know anyone in town and they stayed clear of their German neighbours. George worked from home for a gaming company, and Yevheniiya rekindled her interest in photography. Her mother and younger brother took a flat in an apartment building next door. It’s a quiet, withdrawn life, but a relief from the war.George and Yevhiniiya left Odesa on the first day of the war.
Every Wednesday in Hartha, the fire station sounds a siren precisely at 3 p.m. It’s only a drill but it has the same eerie drone as the air raid alarms in Ukraine. George and Yevheniiya still can’t get used to it and, for a few minutes each week, they are back in Odesa, running from bombs. George and Yevheniiya head to a store in their new neighbourhood in Hartha, Germany, in early January to buy toys for their five cats.
Two days into their married life they raced out of Kyiv as the first bombs started falling. After time spent in Warsaw and The Hague, the couple stayed in the suburbs of London. Sonya’s mother had fled to Italy to live with relatives, bringing Sonya’s 18-year-old sister Stella. While there, doctors discovered that the stomach pain that had bothered Lena for so long was pancreatic cancer. By the time she and Stella reunited with Sonya in England, it was too late. Lena was only 51 years old.
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