The testimony of a Ukrainian refugee in Poland: “I help as I can but I also feel empty inside”

(From Warsaw, special envoy) “I feel empty inside right now. Seeing so many little girls say goodbye to their parents screaming and crying did me very bad, because I too had to say goodbye to my dad. And I don't know if I'm going to see him again.”

Kateryna is a breath of fresh air. Young, friendly, friendly and talkative, she helps Infobae to overcome the language obstacles of Ukrainian and Polish and collaborates as an interpreter for at least an hour of interviews with refugees waiting in Warszawa Centralna, Warsaw's central railway station. Empathetic and helpful, she embraces Ukrainians in need, and runs to find out the schedule of a train if someone is very mentally blocked even to look up at the giant ads displayed at the top of the terminal hall.

“People say to me 'how do I get to Berlin? ' , and I help them as I can. Yesterday a woman came and asked me how to get to Australia,” she laughs. She herself had to escape from Kiev a few days ago. “My mom and I ran to the countryside on February 24 and stayed there for three weeks. Until we decided to come to Warsaw.”

Half of the 3.5 million inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital have already fled since the start of the Russian invasion, on February 24, the day Kateryna and her mother left the city. But after three weeks they realized that it was no longer safe anywhere.

More than 10 million people, more than a quarter of the population in regions under Ukrainian government control, are believed to have fled their homes, including millions of internally displaced persons. Some of them, like Kateryna, will soon make the decision to escape the territory before it is too late.

“It was my mom, my dad and me, two dogs and a cat in a car for two people. My dad had to add another seat as he could,” he says. She smiles with the memory but soon she gets serious again. “It was a week's journey. There was a lot of stress. We had to go to Kiev to get gas because we didn't have enough. We traveled during the day, we slept during the night, because it is not safe to travel at night, there is more military activity.”

His father was left behind, like all Ukrainian men in age and conditions for combat. “He's not allowed to leave, but if he could, he wouldn't.” And pride gives him energy to continue his story and even joke.

“When I had to choose the things to bring me I didn't choose at all well and now I regret so much. Well, of course I would have liked to take more clothes, but I realized that with what little I have is fine and enough. I mean, I brought the most ridiculous and stupid things. I brought a roller for my spine! Who comes up with it? The thing is that my back tends to hurt and I had recently bought it in Kiev and I didn't want to leave it. At that time I also wanted to bring photos of my family, but it was very difficult to transport them because they were so many and so heavy... My mother asked me to desist. She only brought the Bible from her mother, from my grandmother, one of the few things she had left of her.”

“We came here yesterday. I left my things and came straight here to do something. I would like to do more, but I can't think of what else to do for now.” She seems to apologize, as if giving support to displaced compatriots like herself is not enough.

Warszawa Centralna has become one of the epicenters of Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw. Volunteers in fluorescent yellow and orange vests try to accompany them as they can, with assistance, food and a support arm.

Kateryna has bloodshot eyes, and it's more noticeable when she gets excited. “I haven't slept well since February 24,” he acknowledges.

And he says he was lucky, not only because he was able to escape, but because he immediately found a place to stay. He laughs mischievously when he tells the anecdote. “Well, it turns out... we're staying with a friend. Well, a guy I met years ago in a bar, with whom we had a fun night having drinks here in Warsaw - I lived here at one point, but due to the pandemic I returned to Ukraine - lent us an apartment. It's a nice place and it gave us food and everything we need to be comfortable. We are so grateful! That's why I feel that I need to give more of myself during this conflict, because I was lucky, despite everything.”

Franco Fafasuli: Photos

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