ZAHONY, Hungary (AP) — It’s a global women’s day, but many people fleeing Ukraine are only stressed out by finding a new life for their children as husbands, brothers and fathers stay behind to defend their country from a Russian invasion.
The number of refugees reached 2 million on Tuesday, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II, according to the United Nations. One million of them are children, UNICEF spokesman James Elder tweeted, calling it a “dark historic first.”
Polina Shulga tried to ease her 3-year-old daughter’s journey by hiding the truth.
“Of course, it’s hard to travel with a child, but I explained to her that we are going on vacation and someday, when the war is over, we will definitely return home,” Shulga said.
She did not know what would happen next after arriving in Hungary from the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, but she believed that this experience would make her stronger. “I feel like I’m responsible for my baby so it was easier for me to take that step and leave,” she said as her little girl tugged at the hem of her coat.
Natalia Grigoryevna Levchinka from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine felt the same way.
“I generally have some kind of terrible dream that continues,” the retired teacher said. “I would be in some kind of abstraction if not for my daughter. I wouldn’t be able to recover.”
A Ukrainian government decree banning men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country means that the majority of those fleeing are women and children, although the UN does not have exact numbers by gender. Ukraine’s policy is to encourage men to join the fight against the Russian invasion or to keep them available for conscription.
This has led to heartbreaking scenes of division, along with growing concern that some besieged, battered parts of Ukraine are slipping out of control.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about International Women’s Day in a video message: “Ukrainians, we usually celebrate this holiday, the holiday of spring. We congratulate our women, our daughters, wives, mothers. Usually. But not today. Today I can’t say the traditional words. I just can’t congratulate you. I can’t with so many deaths. When there is so much grief, when there is so much suffering. When the war goes on.
Women usually receive flowers and chocolates, kisses and speeches. But this time the sweet messages were tinged with grief or pleas for peace.
In a refugee camp in Moldova, Elena Shapoval apologized for her tears. She does not hide them from her two children, 4-year-old and 8-year-old, recalling their trip from Odessa. “The younger one doesn’t understand what’s going on,” Shapoval said. The eldest tries to calm her down, saying: “Mom, everything will be fine.”
She can’t collapse when she thinks about the life they left behind. “I understand that now we have to work hard,” she said. “I need to pull myself together because I have two kids and I need to clench my will like a fist.”
In Romania, Alina Rudakova burst into tears when she realized that she had forgotten about the holiday. Last year, a 19-year-old woman from Melitopol received a bouquet of flowers from her father and gifts from other relatives.
“I didn’t even think about this day this year,” she said. “That day was really terrible.”
But some arrived refugees were given flowers immediately after crossing the border. “I was so stressed, I was so tired, it made my day better,” said 15-year-old Maria Kotelnitskaya from Poltava.
“The best gift for every woman would be to stop the war,” said 19-year-old Anastasia Kvirikashvili from Vinnitsa.
As refugees continued to arrive, new vulnerabilities emerged. “The people who are coming now have less means than the people who came originally and they are also more likely to have been directly confronted with conflict, so they are probably more traumatized,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesman for the UN refugee agency. .
In the theater of the Ukrainian Cultural Center in the Polish town of Przemysl near the border, women and children filled makeshift beds. Some checked their phones again for news.
“It was difficult for me to prepare for the trip,” said one refugee from near Kyiv, who identified herself only by her first name, Natalya. “My sister said that I am very brave, but I think I am a coward. I want to go home.”
And at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Elena Makarova said her hasty flight from Kremenchug with her mother and teenage daughter marked the end of her life as she knew it. Father, husband and brother remained.
“I wish that (the war) ends as soon as possible, because you know, for every mother, what could be worse?” she said. “I cannot understand why our children are dying. I do not know.”
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Associated Press journalists from all over Europe contributed.
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Follow AP reporting on the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.