Reportage
After six months of war, Poles still welcome Ukrainian refugees
Many Ukrainian families remain refugees in Poland after six months of war like here in Poznan.
© JAKUB STEZYCKI/REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Six months to the day after the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, the situation of millions of Ukrainian refugees remains precarious.
Poland received up to 5 million during the peak of the migratory wave.
While a large number of these refugees have chosen to return home, others are still living in reception centers or with Polish families.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw,
Damien Simonart
In Ukraine, 28-year-old Olessa had never approached a horse in her life.
But for four months, she has been living in a stud farm 20 km from Warsaw.
At the end of April, this young Ukrainian from Ternopil in the west of the country, packed her bags and fled to Poland with her husband and eight-year-old son: "
When we left, the situation was calm, but the following month, four rockets fell in a single day on our city.
We were very scared.
Fortunately, there were no casualties.
»
Although she is safe, Olessa is very afraid for her parents, her grandmother and her sister who stayed in Ternopil: “
We talk to each other on the phone every day.
I would like to go see them, but I don't know when I can.
The situation changes every day.
I am very worried for them.
»
“
We have to help these people
”
Like thousands of Poles, Hania Gromnicka, the owner of the stud farm, opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees with state aid of 8.5 euros per person per day.
Before Olessa, she hosted a family of six for two weeks who then left for Austria: "
It's terrible to lose your house, your whole life and to have to flee, so I thought we should help these people and I made a small house available.
They can stay as long as they want.
When the first family left, we all cried a lot.
We'll see how it goes with this one.
»
For Olessa, the time is not yet at the start.
In the meantime, she spends her days sewing.
Her husband, in addition to helping out at stud farms, found a job as a delivery boy.
As for his son, he is learning horse riding.
►Also read: Report - at the Ukrainian school in Warsaw, the children operate a return to life
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Poland
Refugees
International Migrations
Immigration
Ukraine