Four women and four minors set foot in the port city fleeing the conflict in Eastern Europe
“We are devastated by a very difficult seven-day trip. And we are also concerned about the husbands, who have had to stay in our country to fight and help as much as they can. But we are also happy to have safely put the children here, who are only between one and eleven years old.” This is how Snizhana appeared yesterday a few hours after arriving at the Cartagena bus station in the morning, where they were received by her brother-in-law and compatriot, Igor Turchenyak.
This Ukrainian, a bricklayer and handyman living in the rural area of Galifa, offered his house and a room at the Manolo Hotel to Snizhana, his wife’s sister, her son and the other six people with whom they both ended up in the city: Svitlana, also Igor’s sister-in-law, in this case his brother’s wife, and his two daughters, his mother (Anna), his sister (Oksana) and his niece.
These eight refugees fell asleep after seven days of hard journey. The flight from the bombs of Putin’s army began in Kiev. From there they drove to the Romanian border, which they crossed on foot. «Then, thanks to a volunteer, they took a bus to Spain with other Ukrainians, who got off in Barcelona, Valencia and other cities to stay with relatives. “Very grateful” for the support of the people of Cartagena, for gestures such as “the restaurant El Gato, in La Vaguada, has given them food”, Igor only wishes that the Russian invasion ends now and everyone can meet again in peace. If anything, when asked what more can be done for them, he comments that it would be a blessing if someone had a home for his relatives.
In the midst of a whirlwind and barely sleeping, Igor was also waiting in the middle of the afternoon for news from his sister, Oksana, and his parents, Mikjail and Nadya, who left on Thursday in a van for Poland to deliver 1,200 kilos of food. , medicines and other articles donated by associations and by the Neighborhood Council of the west zone of Cartagena. When they were crossing France, they had a breakdown in the vehicle, which is already old, and “problems with the mobile,” Igor said.