The early chaos has dissipated, but thousands of Ukrainians are still waiting in the cold to enter Poland. Their stories mix fear of a war they didn’t expect, but also emotion for the solidarity they found.
Only 24 kilometers separate the small town of Tvirzha, in western Ukraine, from the Shegyni border post with Poland. The congestion of vehicles full of women and children who want to leave the country reached this far.
Piles of garbage and a few abandoned cars were the only evidence of last weekend’s monumental traffic jam.
It was in Tvirzha, opposite the school she runs, that Ivana Shcherbata set up a stand offering hot drinks and food with the help of some women from the municipality.
“We picked it up and took it all into our own hands,” says Shcherbata.
In front of him is everything a cold passenger could want: tea, coffee, sandwiches and huge pots of Borsch, a popular beetroot soup whose origins are disputed in Ukraine and Russia, prepared in the school’s kitchens.
On the second floor of the center, the nursery accommodates mothers and children looking for a cozy space to spend the night.
– “Very moved” –
“I started this spontaneously and then these women came to offer help and bring food,” explains Shcherbata in the kitchen.
Coming from Kriviy Rih, in central Ukraine, Daria, with her son in her arms, cannot find words to describe the solidarity she has found on her journey.
“I am very excited. Everywhere they gave us food, clothes, they did everything to help us”, says this 32-year-old civil servant, who was on the road for three days, a full day in traffic.
According to the United Nations, more than 830,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, especially Poland.
The country’s roads became congested, with traffic jams sometimes exacerbated by checkpoints set up in several townships in western Ukraine by volunteers who feared Russian “provocations”.
“The trip was very difficult. It’s quieter here, but the journey was horrible,” says Katerina Zaporojets, a laboratory worker from the city of Cherkasy (center).
In her case, it took about 24 hours to reach the Shegyni border post, a journey of just over 10 hours under normal conditions. And now it will probably take another 48 hours before it crosses into Poland.
The six children she and two friends took to Poland must already be crossing the border on one of the buses chartered by the authorities to the Shegyni checkpoint.
Despite weeks of guesswork, these would-be refugees were not prepared for what was to come.
“For the last two weeks, I suspected something like this would happen. But I never thought it would be so terrible,” admits Zaporojets, who has no plans other than to house the little ones.
Several cars travel in the opposite direction, towards the heart of the conflict.
In them are some men who left their families at the border, but also some groups of men with serious faces, perhaps Ukrainians who live abroad and have decided to come back to help their country.
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