International reporting
In Poland, Ukrainians flock to the border to return to fight in Ukraine
Audio 02:33
Ukrainians who have fled their country wait for a bus to take them to the Przemysl train station at the Medyka border crossing on March 4, 2022, while others have chosen to return to Ukraine to fight or to help.
AP - Visar Kryeziu
By: Sarah Bakaloglou Follow
3 mins
The exodus of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion in Ukraine continues.
More than half a million people joined neighboring Poland.
But if the arrivals are very numerous on the Polish side, several tens of thousands of Ukrainians have – themselves – made the opposite journey to return to their country, to help or to fight.
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At the Medyka border post, on the Polish side, a bus with about fifteen men on board has just arrived.
Among the travellers, Dimitri Marchenko pulls his suitcase behind him.
At 24, this Ukrainian who works in Poland decided to leave everything to return to his native country.
“
On the one hand, it was a difficult decision.
I have a good part of my life in Poland already, I have everything here, an apartment, a job.
In Ukraine, I have nothing left, I don't even know when I will be able to return to Poland
, explains Dimitri.
In Ukraine, we have territorial defense brigades and I would like to be able to enlist in the unit in my region
.
My mother told me not to come home and to wait,
adds the young man.
Obviously not every mother wants her son to go to war.
But why wait?
It's been 8 years since the war.
It's not that I hope to win, I'm sure we will win.
Ukraine's future lies with Europe, not Russia.
Every Ukrainian knows that this is our territory and the truth is on our side.
»
If the majority of Ukrainians on the way back are men, we also see some women who have made the decision to leave.
We go to one of the temporary reception centers for refugees in the town of Przemysl, set up in a primary school.
In the gymnasium, Ivana Tatchiova tearfully bids farewell to her 14-year-old daughter, hugging her.
She took her to Poland for her daughter to be safe, but she is now preparing to make the reverse journey, to return to Ukraine.
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Also follow our live on the war in Ukraine
“
Fighting for our land
”
“
I understand that families with one-month-old, two-month-old babies want to flee, but if everyone leaves, if there are no more Ukrainians, then there will be no more Ukraine, this will be finished.
So if you have the opportunity, you have to come back,
says Ivana.
It is our duty as Ukrainians to fight for our land, for our homeland.
If everyone is fleeing, then there is no more reason to fight.
»
"
Me, I don't want to be heroic, I just want to help as I can
," confides this Ukrainian who is thinking about getting involved as a nurse or volunteer in the back, to organize help.
Ukraine has also called on foreign volunteers to form an international defense legion.
“
I come from Sweden and I have decided to join the Foreign Legion to take up arms against Vladimir Putin
” testifies a young Swedish man aged 25 whom he met in a hotel near Przemysl station.
Looking a little lost, he holds a hiking bag at his feet, on which we can see a groundsheet.
He arrived in Poland by train from Sweden, after a detour via Germany.
“
It's obvious why it's important to go and fight.
It's important because you can't let a dictator, a terrible person, take control of a country.
And the most important thing is not “
I'm going to make a difference
”, but rather, “
if I'm not going, then who can?
“says the young man.
No one has a better profile than me.
»
According to the Ukrainian president, 16,000 foreigners have already volunteered to fight alongside Ukraine.
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