In the evening of 25th February, Nataliya with her daughter and cat joined her friend’s family who were evacuating to Western Ukraine — to Truskavets.
The journey wasn’t easy because we did not go on the highway but drove around some other roads, other villages, and it lasted for a long, long time. We did not expect to be on the road for so long. We drove until night and then, at night... We realised that we needed to spend the night somewhere because there were three adults, two children, a dog and a cat in the car. The driver needed to rest”.
So they stayed in a hostel in Vinnytsia. They were allocated a utility room for the night. In the morning of 26th February, they left Vinnytsia and arrived in Truskavets in the evening.
On the way, there was … one kinda very nice moment. I don’t remember at all where it was, what kind of area it was and what day of the road it was, but there was a village where women were treated with hot food, soup, tea and bread. It was very appropriate, it was very… touching… It made me tear up”.
However, it became increasingly clear that the military invasion would not end soon. The news was getting worse and worse, the number of air raids was increasing, and the children and animals were having an emotional hard time with it all. At the same time, Nataliya’s friend with whom she had evacuated from Kyiv offered to go with them to her mother-in-law in Germany.
If I was alone, I would have been afraid to go somewhere with a child and a cat. And here we were together with my friend — I knew it would be easier this way. I knew it wasn’t possible to stay in Truskavets, in the sanatorium, forever. I mean, I would still have to look for another shelter. And it is unknown how things will move and what will happen next”.
On 5th March, Nataliya, her daughter and her friend’s family left Truskavets for Germany. The friend’s husband drove them as close as possible to the Ukrainian-Polish border from where they went ahead on foot. On the way, they met women like them: tired, anxious, scared, with or without children, with a pet or a friend.
After crossing the border, they managed to get to the nearest railway station where local volunteers provided help and support to the Ukrainian refugees. From there, Nataliya went to Krakow. At that time, there were a lot of Ukrainian refugees in Krakow. Therefore, the queue for temporary asylum was huge. Given this, the husband of Nataliya’s friend booked a hotel near the railway station for the women with their children.
The next evening, on 6th March, they left for Germany.
