March 11 2022 – TISZABECS, Hungary : Our journalist, Oliya Scootercaster, finally crossed into Hungary from Ukraine on March 10 and spent the day with refugees and humanitarian aid workers and volunteers. Today Scootercaster caught a ride to Budapest in a car driving refugees, Vlada, 23, and her 2-year-old daughter, along with Tatyana, 68.
Vlada said she was originally from Donbas, and as the war started in 2014 she had to flee to Kyiv. Today she is married and has her daughter and once again they are forced to leave everything behind and flee. Her husband was forced to stay behind in Ukraine because of the presidential declaration forbidding men ages 18-60 from leaving the country.
“In 2014, I didn’t have a husband or a child, it was easier,” she said, on the verge of tears. “Now I have a child and my husband has to stay here, because men aren’t allowed to leave.”
Tatyana is fleeing Dneipr, a city located along the Dniepr River further south of Kyiv. She spoke of her difficult journey to the border. She said she saw the explosion at the airport in Vinnytsia on Sunday March 6 while they made their way West. She is staying with another volunteer group near Budapest and will next be traveling to Austria to stay with her daughter, “I’ll tell you honestly, as much as I want to see my child, just as much I don’t want to leave my country.”
Vlada and her child are making their way to Spain to stay with relatives. Both refugees say they want to come back to Ukraine, “even if the city is in crumbles”
Volunteers from across the world have been helping refugees from Ukraine since the invasion began 15 days ago. This is Baltazár’s second trip from the border with refugees. He lives in Germany but is originally from Hungary. “It’s like crazy to see so many young people women children leave the country.”
He said his father once helped refugees hide and cross the border, and he is now wanting to find ways to help the people fleeing the war in Ukraine. “ just jumped in my car and drove here.”
Video by Oliya Scootercaster (FNTV Freedomnews.tv)
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