Ukrainian boy’s first train journey is fleeing the country to escape war
For most seven-year-old boys, their first time on a train is usually a journey of excitement and wonder, not fleeing with his mum with little more than the clothes on their backs.
Bogdan Totskaya and his mother Valerya, 27, boarded an evacuation train on Tuesday to escape their hometown of Zaporizkzhia – location of the nuclear power plant seized by Russians after an attack which made Western leaders hold their breath.
They carried only their papers, some food, and spare underwear – a desperate experience shared by countless families seeking an urgent route out Ukraine.
Speaking from the relative safety of a school-turned-shelter at Velke Kapusany, six miles west of the Slovakian-Ukrainian border, Valerya recalled: ‘There was a river of people.
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‘Men pushed away other women and children to get their own on. It was of course horrible.
‘It was very hot on the train. Some people tried to lock themselves in the compartments, but the conductor said people had to sit four on each bed, so there were 16 people in each compartment.
‘Some slept on their bags in the corridor.’
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has entered its ninth day, with the attacks beginning on February 24.
Since then, Ukraine has suffered widespread damages and loss of life amid Russia's major bombing campaign.
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In a chilling call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the 'worst is yet to come'.
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They have travelled more than 700 miles in total, first by rail to Lviv.
Valerya said they then went by bus to Uzhhorod, where a contact took them by van to the border, where Bogdan got cold and the family did not sleep for two days.
She said: ‘He cried “Mom, I want to go home.” I said: “my son that is impossible, there is a war going on”.’
One million people have fled Ukraine in the week after Russia launched a devastating invasion of the country, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
Thousands more Ukrainians were making the journey on Friday as the fighting intensified.
Svitlana Babatenko and her three children arrived on foot in Slovakia. Her husband stayed behind to fight while she, their two teenagers and 10-year-old son journeyed west to safety.
She said: ‘Our town, Malyn, is now being bombed, planes are destroying houses. Our relatives stayed behind.
‘Last night, their house was bombed, we do not have any connection with them. We do not know if they ran away.’
After leaving Malyn, the family went to Vinnitsya, southwest of Kyiv. Svitlana said: ‘Then (the fighting) started there too, so we decided to flee the country.’
Moscow says the aim of its ‘special military operation’ is to disarm its neighbour and capture leaders it calls neo-Nazis and a threat to its own security.
It has dismissed allegations of strikes on civilian targets, and on Thursday Russia and Ukraine agreed on the need for humanitarian corridors to help civilians escape.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday it had received no official written communication from Russia or Ukraine for assistance in setting up safe passage for civilians and supplies.
In Romania, at the Sighetu Marmatiei crossing, women and children arrived by car, bicycle and on foot on Friday, clutching plastic bags and roll-on suitcases as the snow fell.
One woman brushed away tears as she hugged a loved one waiting for her.
In Poland, an NGO has been helping coordinate the evacuation of orphans, with more arriving from Odessa, Kharkiv and other parts of Ukraine on Friday in addition to the 1,000 already rescued.
They try to not to separate children from the same orphanage, with Aleksander Kartasinski, head of Happy Kids, adding: ‘I do my best to keep them together.’
Memories of Russian domination after World War II run deep in the region, with many people looking to help how they can.
Some 73% of Poles were engaged in helping Ukrainians, mostly by donating food and hygiene products, according to a survey by pollster IQS for the Rzeczpospolita daily on Friday.
In Bulgaria, hotel owners on the Black Sea coast and small guesthouses throughout the country have offered free accommodation to Ukrainian refugees, while the state railway operator BDZ said they could travel for free.
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