As Ella stood on the streets of Warsaw, Poland – a six-month old baby in her arms and a two-year-old toddler by her side – she was relieved to be far from the war in Ukraine, but deeply shaken and uncertain about what the future held for her young family.
A primary school teacher by profession, Ella and her children – Zlata and Matvii – are from the village of Katyuzhanka, 60 kilometers north of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Katyuzhanka was one of the first places to be occupied during the full-scale invasion.
“We saw all of these planes, tanks and when our village became occupied, we immediately went to the west of Ukraine,” she said. “I was nervous and [the children] could feel it. I needed to take them to a safe place for […] their mental health.”
When missile attacks eventually spread to the area where they were staying, Ella made the difficult decision to leave her country. Since February 2022, more than 6 million refugees have fled ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Most of them have come through Poland, and close to one million refugees are currently registered for temporary protection in the country.
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