They left their home, their possessions and relatives - all to survive.
Tetiana Levytska and Natalia Ailinkyi, who have moved to Tumba, south of Stockholm, have been good friends and teammates for six years and, among other things, played together during their time in Mykolajiv.
And now they just have each other in the pursuit of a pleasant everyday life in an otherwise chaotic existence characterized by worry and anxiety.
- When I saw how my window shook, I did not understand what had happened.
I was in shock for a few seconds and then I started crying.
I picked up the phone and turned on the internet and watched the news that it was war.
I could not understand what had happened, says Tetiana Levytska to SVT Sport.
- Every morning when we wake up, we wait for messages from our parents.
We're just waiting for them to say they's okay.
We do not have contact with them constantly.
It's so difficult.
"Football is our love"
When everything that is everyday becomes chaos, they find the way forward by doing what they love: playing football.
Via a Facebook group for help to war victims, they got in touch with the football club Boo FF and sports director Markus Saving.
He has helped them with equipment and given them a place to train, keep going and get thoughts on other things.
- My mother was always dissatisfied with the fact that I played boys 'games instead of girls' games.
She sent me to various leisure centers all the time.
Anything but football!
But I just wanted to play football, says Natalia Ailinkyi when she thinks back with a smile.
- Football is our love, first and foremost love.
We've been playing our whole lives.
We want to thank Markus so much for the opportunity, says Tetiana Levytska.
See the full feature in the player below.
REPORTAGE: Flee the war - now the Ukrainians get to play their beloved sport in Boo FF (March 18, 2022)
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Flee the war - now the Ukrainians get to play their beloved sport in Boo FF Photo: SVT