Western Reader
Emmanuel and Sylvester, who work in the IT industry in Nigeria, expressed their sadness at having to leave Kyiv, a city they have grown to love in the past four years. After staying in their apartments for five days and spending the previous night in a bomb shelter, they were now hoping to find a train that would take them west, where they could enter the EU and catch a flight home.
Emmanuel said, “My mother told me she would kill me before [Putin] if I didn’t leave.”
They decided to try reaching Hungary after reading reports that Nigerian citizens trying to escape Ukraine were being harassed by Ukrainian police and border guards, and that Poland was refusing entry to people like them.
Close by, Molvina, a mother of two daughters aged 10 and 5, sat on the floor of the international hall of the train station, in tears. She hoped, along with their small terrier named Kompot after the popular homemade fruit juice in this region, that they would be able to make it to Poland.
“We don’t know what to do after that,” she said. “Everything we have is here now.”
She could only take three small bags of belongings and the dog with her.
“We hope we will be back soon. We will be back soon,” she said defiantly.
She explained that she had left Georgia for Ukraine after her home country was invaded by Russia in 2008. She had spent the past 14 years building a new life, only to have Putin destroy it once again.
Behind her, people lined up at the France café in the international room, which normally serves buttery croissants and steamy cappuccinos. On Tuesday, it only had Lipton tea in plastic cups and slices of white bread to offer. Around 2:30 p.m., the tea ran out, so the café provided hot water to keep people warm while they waited.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings