“Why did not you wake me up for school?”: Heartbreaking human stories after the invasion of Ukraine

There is no end to the dramatic and moving stories that see the light of day from the everyday life of the citizens in Ukraine that changed violently after the Russian invasion in the early hours of Thursday 24/2.

The Daily Mail’s envoy to Ukraine, Ian Birel, conveys what he is experiencing tragically in the last hours in the country.

“The driver of a blue minibus, full of people, was desperately trying to close the door. Then I watched a frantic woman block the departure by giving a newborn baby girl to one of the passengers. “After the middle-aged woman left, crying slowly, she told me that her sister was on her way, taking the last bus to Uman, a city in central Ukraine, where she would go with their parents.”

So why didn’t the correspondent go? «Why should I go? If they start bombing cities, they will bomb them all. She is not safe there, but at least she will be with her family».

“I later saw footage from a CCTV camera showing the deadly collision of Vladimir Putin’s armed forces in Uman – the destination of this bus – when a rocket hit a 39-year-old cyclist and injured five others.”

The heartbreaking scene was reminiscent of strange flickering shots from the early days of World War II, the journalist says. “I was in the middle to crowds of desperate people holding bags, suitcases, pets and the hands of their companions as they tried to escape a advancing army that invaded their country from three sides.

“I do not panic, I just want my child to be safe”

“My day had started about five hours earlier – when military targets outside Kiev were targeted by missiles shortly after 5 am. A quick glance at social media on my phone showed that a military airport near Kiev had been hit – where a young mother named Natsia had also heard the rocket fire before dawn.

She told me what she looked like outside her home in Vasilkiv, a town 25 miles from Kiev – and she was horrified to see the nearby MiG-29 air base hit by shells. “I heard it and I saw it from the window,” he said. “So I packed my things, I packed my son’s clothes and we left. “I do not panic, I just want my child to be safe,” Birel said.

“I leave everything behind – my home, my job. None of this matters when my son is in danger. That was the only thought that struck me as I woke up to the sound of the bombing today. “I immediately understood that we had to go as far as we could,” said the young mother.

“A bearded man with a sleeping bag hanging from his red backpack followed us down the stairs and told us to be careful. Vitali was in a hurry to speak correctly, but said: “I go to my elderly parents, who live on the outskirts of the city, because they are very nervous. I have a small child. Yesterday we went to kindergarten but today there is a war. It has started””.

Opposite the yard he left with suitcases and a middle-aged couple with their son. The man had the car door open and then shouted at his wife to ask why he was so late. “I can not find the keys,” she screamed. “A brief outburst of panic after the sound of war sirens throughout the city.”

“We are in an age where medicine is as important as food”

“It’s like the first days of the pandemic,” said my colleague Kate. Inevitably, despite the dawn, queues began to form at cash registers, gas stations, supermarkets and later in pharmacies.

“We are at an age where medicine is as important as food,” said an 81-year-old man who waits with 15 others. “But we are not afraid, since we were born in World War II.”

Social media was filled with photos of shelling, including the bombing of a military building and a kiosk that collapsed on the outskirts of the city, with the wreckage of a damaged drone smoking on a nearby street.

“Why didn’t you wake us up for school? Do we have a vacation? ”

“A friend of Kate posted on Facebook details of the start of her day that started with her young children asking why they had not woken up for school. “Are there holidays?” they asked excitedly. “No, my love, the war has begun,” atheir mom replied.

Such creepy words are the ones that no child should hear. “However, in this country of 44 million people, the innocence of too many children was uprooted by the unique grotesque barbarity of war.”

“We walked for half an hour back to the train station where scenes of chaos prevailed, with the police guarding the entrance of the station, many trains being delayed and scenes of despair at the adjacent bus station.

People told me about their frustrated attempts to leave, with flights canceled, ticket booths closed and the immediate appearance of war speculation.

“We have to leave,” said Tetiana, 32, who was with her husband and two young daughters. This family – based in Poland and visiting her parents in Ukraine – had already gone to the airport only to find out that her flights home had been canceled.

After hearing the horrific sound of a bombing, they jumped into a taxi at the train station – but found armed police barring anyone from entering without a ticket.

Even so, trains did not seem to be leaving – only those arriving. Inside the station later, I saw queues of people trying to return tickets from canceled trips.

Not being able to to get money from atm, which was empty Tetiana’s family discovers scandal-priced converters and minibus drivers raising prices to charge 2,000 euros – the equivalent of a five-month average income in Ukraine – for a ticket to Lviv, a city near Poland in the west of the country .

“How is that possible? We are a family of four. “We do not have that much money,” said Tetiana in despair. “It’s awful. My daughters are so tired. We spent the whole night like that. It’s a war and we can not escape – and even if we do, my parents are still in Ukraine. But what can I do? How can I help them? ”