One of the 300 Italians trapped in Ukraine who the Farnesina crisis team is trying to save: he has been stuck at home with his family since February 24
It’s the end of a nightmare: Giovanni Bruno managed to cross the border to escape from Kherson, where he was trapped with his wife, 22monthold daughter and inlaws. He was one of 33 Italians stuck between Mariupol and Cherson, one of 300 that the Farnesina crisis team has been trying to free from the war nightmare for days. The 54yearold fatherinlaw could not leave the city due to martial law, which does not allow men between the ages of 18 and 60 to leave the country because they could theoretically still fight for the Ukrainian army. So he bravely drove his daughter, soninlaw and granddaughter to Odessa.
After 15 checkpoints, 3 Russians and 12 Ukrainians, they arrived at customs and finally Giovanni, a port of Pozzallo, managed to save himself with his family. The journey was difficult, from Kherson to the coast, reaching the Mycolaiv area to Odessa. It was in Odessa that Radio Rai journalist Simone Zazzera picked it up: he told me that he didn’t have a ride to Palanca, the UkraineMoldova border point closest to Odessa, about an hour’s drive says Zazzera , whom I wanted to tell this story and I could have accompanied him. We left this morning with Artem, the driver who is helping me here in Ukraine, to pick up Giovanni, his wife and their little 22 month old baby. We accompanied her to Palanca. Giovanni Bruno had informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his intention to leave Kherson and had contacted the Italian consulate in Odessa, the last stretch was made without Artem as he was a Ukrainian citizen and could not cross the border. Zazzera greeted the Bruno across the border and went back with Artem. From Palanca, Moldova, he went by bus to Husi, Romania, where his Romanian friends picked him up by car. On the 22nd at 9pm Giovanni will embark from Bucharest for Palermo to finally return to Italy.
Bruno had been trapped in the city since February 24, locked in a seventhfloor apartment, after Ukraine invaded and the city was occupied by Russians who fired on sight. He could not leave the house except for a few fragile minutes buying fresh vegetables and eggs from local farmers, having a limited supply of provisions and being in constant contact with the Farnesina to try and find an escape route. After 25 days he found courage: encouraged by other neighbors who had tried to flee, he got into his car and decided to flee. At each checkpoint, they asked him for his documents, checked people in the car and in the trunk, and then let them pass. Every stop, the gasping in your throat and the terror of being stopped, wounded, killed. But everything went well: they actually paid attention to the child too, they told us to roll down the window after showing the documents so that it does not freeze. The landscape around me had changed completely, I felt like I was in another country cashiers checkpoints, uniforms, decay. It doesn’t feel real to me that I managed to walk. Now finally out of danger, fleeing to Italy.
March 20, 2022 (change March 20, 2022 | 19:00)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED