TestimonialsEXILE NOTEBOOKS, EPISODE 1. With the war, they left Lviv, Odessa or Tcherkassy and put their suitcases in Strasbourg, Selles-Saint-Denis, Asnières, Dijon… For a month, for a year, forever? Who can know… Twelve Ukrainian and Russian families whose lives have been turned upside down have agreed to tell us about their daily lives and give us news over the weeks.
Their names are Lessya, Alina, Marina, Stanislav, Tamara and Khyrstyna. They come from Boïarka, Kharkiv, Tcherkassy, kyiv, Odessa and Lviv and have found refuge in France. Twelve Ukrainian and Russian families, whose lives have been turned upside down, have agreed to tell us about their new daily life in France over the weeks. In this series, “exile notebooks”, all the names will not be published in order to protect the people who have agreed to testify with the World.
Since the beginning of the conflict, on February 24, 45,000 Ukrainians have arrived in France, many of them just passing through: to date, just over 25,000 people who have fled Ukraine are staying in the country, according to the interior ministry.
Tamara, in Asnières: “I don’t have the words to describe my desire to return to Odessa”
Flower designs adorn the walls of the parish accommodation in Asnières (Hauts-de-Seine), where Tamara (63), Violetta (39) and Sofia (12) have been housed since March 22. Bright colors that remind this grandmother of her garden in Odessa who arrived here with her daughter and granddaughter. A happy memory to which she clings when the tears rise, at the thought of her husband, her son and her family who remained in Ukraine, whom she dreams of finding.
“I CAN’T FEEL MY HANDS ANYMORE since I left Ukraine. They are like stones. Thanks to Odile, a Frenchwoman who helps us a lot, I have an appointment this afternoon with the cardiologist.
I am 63 years old, I was born in Moldova but I have lived in Odessa for forty-five years with my Ukrainian husband. I am a housewife, I took care of my mother, then my two children and my three grandchildren. My daughter is a beautician. We live side by side, with our son Sergei, his wife and their two children. When the war broke out, I called my daughter at 5 a.m. to join us, along with her daughter, Sofia. When the sirens sounded, we all took refuge in the basement.
The day before, I was walking with my daughter, everything was very calm. Too calm, like before a storm. In the morning, my son said we had to leave. We decided that my husband stays in Ukraine with my son, his wife and their children, and I go with my daughter, Violetta, and my granddaughter Sofia, my princess.
We left Ukraine on February 28, my husband drove us to Romania. From there, we took a plane to Paris. We arrived on March 2. A French client of Violetta, to whom she sometimes rented her apartment, helped us. He came to Odessa from time to time for tourism or business. But we didn’t expect him to help us like that. When he saw the news about the war, he called Violetta and got plane tickets for us. When we arrived, he hosted us for two and a half weeks. He took us to the town hall and the prefecture, and that’s how we had this opportunity to come here, to the parish accommodation. We can stay there until November. After, I do not know.
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