Report
In Romania, the reception of Ukrainian refugees troubled by tensions in Transnistria
Audio 01:29
At least 810,000 Ukrainian refugees have reached Romania since the start of the war.
Here, a 29-year-old volunteer receives passengers at North Station in Bucharest, April 23, 2022. AP - Chisato Tanaka
Text by: Juliette Gheerbrant Follow
3 mins
Fleeing in particular from the districts of Mykolaiv and Odessa, hundreds of Ukrainians, mainly women and children, pass through Bucharest station every day.
But after last week's attacks in the self-proclaimed republic of Transnistria, in Modavia, located between their country and Ukraine, Romanians fear an extension of the conflict.
Advertisement
Read more
From our special correspondent in Bucharest,
The young woman's face betrays exhaustion.
Just arrived from Mykolaiv, with her mother and daughter, she is looking for a place to sleep.
Volunteers and social workers are busy.
"
At the station at the moment,
we see nearly 500 people passing by every day
," says Christian Bojian, employed by the municipality of Bucharest.
Most come from Odessa.
And there are also people who return to Ukraine, or who go to Bulgaria, where the language is closer to theirs.
»
Lada has been in Bucharest since early March.
She is waiting for the train to go see refugee parents in another town in Romania.
But even for her and her 9-year-old daughter, the future remains unclear: “
I'm not sure where I'm going to end up settling.
I have projects here, I'm trying to develop them, but I'm thinking of France
:
as I'm a stylist, it seems like a good destination.
“
I prefer Italy
,” interrupts little Arina before heading off to play further.
The young volunteer who translates our exchange is also a refugee: she is 16 years old.
“
My father said: you have to go and take shelter in a safe place, he was very worried about us, and now here in Bucharest I am trying to do something for the Ukrainians who need help
", she says.
Emilia Tarnaieva left Odessa with her mother and younger sister.
Bright red hair and almond-green overalls, the teenager dreams of going to Japan.
In the meantime, she travels by proxy, surrounded by volunteers from all over the world: from Korea, Germany and even the American state of Arizona.
Moldovan volunteers worried about Transnistria
Or from Moldova.
Bilingual in Russian and Romanian, many Moldovans have mobilized in Romania since the start of the war.
Fluorescent vest, Anastasia Suhin, 22, has been living in Bucharest for three years and
since the explosions of last week
, she speaks every day with her family: her parents are in the Republic of Moldova, but she also has many cousins in Transnistria, where the concern is very strong: "
They have packed their bags, but have not yet decided to leave.
They are very scared... But in the Republic of Moldova, they are not convinced that
the war is spreading
.
»
For the young woman and her cousins, the origin of the attacks is hardly in doubt.
“
Of course, at the beginning of the conflict, Transnistria was very favorable to Russia.
But there, they think that it is undoubtedly Russia which attacks them, and thus that there will be a widened war.
»
"
The situation has been very tense for 40 years
", but "
it can spread very quickly
"
In front of the reception room, Nicoletta Dumitru, who has been living in Bucharest for twelve years, does not even want to pronounce the name of the self-proclaimed republic: " The
situation
has been very tense there for 40 years
, because this part of Moldova is occupied by Russia
!
And we expected something to happen with this war.
»
Her family panicked: “
They are scared, very scared,
” she says.
We are a small country, it can expand very quickly
!
Nicoletta is holding on for her son, she says, despite difficult times: “
Sometimes I cry when I see what's going on there.
Sometimes I'm scared.
It's unfair, but we have to deal with it and move on.
Helping refugees is also a way for her to move forward.
►
Also to read and listen to:
Moldova, the Transdniestrian threat
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Ukraine
Russia
Refugees
Immigration
International Migrations
Moldova