Elena Belaya from Kyiv takes refuge in Poland with her 2-year-old daughter, while her husband remains in Ukraine. (CNN)
Russian missiles are forcing many Ukrainian families to choose whether to stay or leave, or even leave loved ones who cannot make the dangerous journey out of the country.
Elena Belaya fled from Kyiv to Poland with her two-year-old daughter. Sharing videos and photos of a helicopter overhead as they tried to escape, Belaya said she was worried they wouldn’t even make it to the border.
White said it was 5:36 a.m. and she was scrolling through the news on her phone when she heard “something like a big bang” outside.
“I sent my husband to see what was happening on the street. He said that yes, something is really happening (happening), but very far away. Then we started looking at the news and realized that the war (started),” she said.
They decided to leave for the Polish border, but her husband could not go with them – Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.
“It was the most difficult (time) in this situation … He said that I should save our child and go to (place) safety, and he convinced me to cross the border alone with only my child.”
Belaya said they encountered long lines of cars at the border and had to walk 30 kilometers to get to Poland.
“It was very, very hard because I don’t know Polish. I don’t know Poland at all. I only have money for a few days off to live, on this money with my child. me and because of my child I took this step. For a very long time I could not let my husband go. We cried, we hugged,” she said.
“I realized that I had to stay strong for my daughter. It’s a big mission for me to protect my daughter.”
Belaya said that her daughter asks every day when dad will be with them. According to her, she constantly writes messages to her husband to check if he is alive.
At the moment, she lives day after day in a hostel with about 40 other refugees, including children, with only the clothes she has on her back. She said her daughter made friends and it’s like kindergarten. They hope that one day their family will be reunited.
“We have to survive and I think Ukraine has a great future,” she said.