On the western border of Ukraine with Poland, near the town of Mostyska, Ukrainians Olena and Maria go to their country after a month and a half. Both come from Sloviansk, in the east of the Donetsk region.
When Russians approached the city on March 10, Olena’s husband asked her to leave the country with her daughter. Olena and Maria visited a friend’s house in the Polish city of Szczecin, on the border with Germany.
But they had to sleep on the floor. And Olena says they had a hard time finding a job because they don’t speak Polish. Now they are returning to eastern Ukraine, despite the threat of further Russian attacks in the region. Olena’s husband is an ambulance driver and stays in Sloviansk waiting for her.
When we asked them how they felt about returning to their country, Olena broke into a smile. “Very good! Regardless of everything, we are very happy to be back in Ukraine.”
It is estimated that more than 10 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, and 4.3 million of them have fled the country. But as front lines stabilize and the country learns to operate in a state of war, some Ukrainians are beginning to head home, even to areas directly threatened by Russian forces.
The war begins for the second month. Ukraine managed to avoid a quick takeover of the country by Russia and prevented them from invading the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded the public this week that 48 days have passed since European and American military analysts predicted that Kyiv had only 48 hours to be completely taken over by the invaders.
People the BBC spoke to at the Polish border said they were fed up with refugee life. Others were keen to return for practical reasons — to collect important documents left behind in the mess of the invasion, to protect their homes from looters, or even to pick up children left behind in the country.
And for some, the connection to home, friends and family is just too strong. Sofia eats a hot dog from one of the food stands at the border. She defies her mother’s orders by choosing to return to Ukraine after spending three weeks safely in Poland. War is war, but Easter is Easter she wants to see her family at the weekend.
2 of 5 Sofia left Ukraine at her mother’s request but now wants to return to the country to spend Easter with her family — Photo: BBC
Sofia left Ukraine at her mother’s request but now wants to return to the country to spend Easter with her family Photo: BBC
The 20yearold crossed the border into the European Union to stay with a friend of her grandmother’s in Poznan in late March after the Russians bombed her hometown.
“My mother made me do it, she was panicking,” says Sofia. However, she has not adjusted to life outside her country, despite refugee aid organized by humanitarian organizations and the Polish government.
“You feel like a foreigner,” she says. “Everyone helps you, but you don’t feel at home.” She hopes to settle in the city of Lviv, which is relatively quiet for now amid the war.
Official data suggests more people are making the same decision. Polish border officials say the number of those leaving and entering Ukraine is approaching. On Wednesday (April 13), 24,700 people traveled to Poland from Ukraine, while 20,000 went the other way. It’s a big change from the record number of 142,000 people who crossed the border into Poland on March 6.
LvivHolovnyi railway station is the key to facilitating the transit of people in western Ukraine. Trains bring thousands of people from war zones to Lviv. Outside the station, charities are delivering food, clothing and phone chips, while buses queue to take travelers further afield or to the border.
Although most people come here from the East, a growing group are beginning to make the journey in the opposite direction a potentially fatal decision.
Iryna, her daughter Katerina, mother Lina and motherinlaw Yevgenya are from Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine near the battle lines. They initially left the country to stay with relatives in Moldova but decided to return. They had to buy tickets for the trip as they were going east. Westbound trips are offered free of charge.
3 of 5 Iryna (right) says she is telling her daughter Katerina (2nd from left) the truth about what is happening — Photo: BBC
Iryna (right) says she is telling her daughter Katerina (2nd from left) the truth about what is happening — Photo: BBC
Iryna says she would have liked to return sooner but had to wait until her 8yearold daughter recovered from an illness. “Home is home,” she says when we ask why they decided to come back.
She admits she’s worried about her daughter’s safety. We asked what they said to Katerina about the situation. “We tell the truth,” says Iryna.
Some warn against returning to eastern Ukraine. Volunteers at a clinic above the station’s main hall provide medical counseling and psychological support to newcomers. Irena Bous is one of them.
Before the war she was a juror for the International Dance Organization and organized competitions throughout Ukraine. “There was all kinds of dances, from hip hop to jazz and break,” he says.
A friend of hers in the Lviv governor’s office learned that she was good at organization and asked her to help her after the Russian invasion. Irena has met several people returning to wartorn areas. “It’s a bad idea (to go back to the East),” says Irena, “we tried to save her life by keeping her in Lviv”.
She told us about a woman who came to Lviv from her home near Bucha, a wealthy suburb of Kyiv where Russian troops murdered civilians and left their bodies on the streets. After nine days, she decided to return against Irena’s advice.
“I said: ‘Wait please, there are no more Russians, but there are other things, like bombs and mines. Wait until they are deactivated,'” says Irena. The woman went back anyway and said friends had found her a place to stay.
Another woman Irena spoke to, in her 60s, had fled to Poland before the war started but returned to Ukraine last week and boarded a train eastbound. “I don’t know how long I will live, but I will die in my house,” she told Irena.
4 of 5 Before the war, Irena organized dance competitions. Now she works as a volunteer in a clinic at Lviv train station — Photo: BBC
Before the war, Irena organized dance competitions. Now she works as a volunteer in a clinic at Lviv train station — Photo: BBC
Others we know never left Ukraine. At Arena Lviv, a stadium built for the 2021 European Football Championship and now hosting refugees, we meet Roma, a 19yearold from Mykolaivm on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, and his new girlfriend Iryna, a grandmother from Severodonetsk Lugansk region.
The two had never met until that day, but they had decided to stay together. Iryna crossed Ukraine to the Polish border in the days after the invasion with the idea of fleeing the war. After queuing for hours to cross the border, he changed his mind at the last minute.
Her son is in the Ukrainian army and she learned that her town was retaken by Ukrainian forces, which paved the way for her home.
“I couldn’t convince myself to leave (the country),” she said. But Iryna has been touring western Ukraine ever since she once slept in a day care center in Lviv before ending up with Roma at Lviv Arena.
A bus going inland had an empty seat, but despite repeated offers, Iryna refused to board and decided to stay with her new friend. Now she and Roma, like millions of others, face the uncertain future of homeless people at home.
Given the choice of having refugee status abroad or living in Ukraine without roots, it is not surprising that some are risking their lives to return home.
5 of 5 Iryna and Roma live in Lviv — Photo: BBC
Iryna and Roma live in Lviv — Photo: BBC