"We are now - like Poland in 39"

Elena Kostyuchenko walks from the Polish border to Lviv with men who took out families - and return to war

The text was published in Novaya Gazeta on February 27, 2022. On March 5, the text was deleted in connection with the entry into force of articles 207.3 and 208.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Warsaw, Poland

February 24, 22:40

At the bus station, confused people with bags go. One local bus comes and leaves. The rest go to Ukraine.

Eugene escorts her friend and tries not to cry. His brother went to Ukraine a few days ago, to his parents. The war began. General mobilization has been announced, men from 18 to 60 cannot leave Ukraine. Zhenya says hoarsely:

- I tore my voice to the rally, squealed like a half -hearted. I will never forgive. My mother! I will never forgive if with her! .. Father, his heart, and now. They do not want to leave, they flatly refuse. Dad says: let them give a machine gun to protect a piece of the garden. The dog is 13 years old. The dog that you knew from childhood must be euthanized, otherwise your parents will not leave. How is that? "Let the Russians kill us here, if they want." Brother calls: We are going. To Poland? No, we are just going from explosions.

People are waiting for the bus to Lviv, who does not come.

Ivan is 19 years old, he is studying in Brussels. His specialty is a public history and counter -propaganda. Upon learning of the war, he sat down at the computer and developed the route home. Crossing four countries, trains and buses. “Mom was discouraged to go, but how not to go?” Does he understand that he will not be able to return to Europe until the end of the war? "I don't care". Calls mom.

- Well, mom, I'm going to the house.

“Your keys to me, I put it in my bag,” says my mother.

On the bus to Lviv are almost one men. One laughs in the phone: “Tika, chi sho? On the contrary, I’m going. ”

Everyone endlessly leaf through Instagram, likes. The protest in Moscow is like. Photos of wrapped equipment - like. Video from resuscitation of infants transferred to the basement.

“In Kakhovka, the Russian flag is already hanging,” one says.

Przemysl, Poland

February 25, 20:00

Refugees are collected at the railway station. This is one of the nine border points of reception of refugees. The vaults of the station, under them are people, bright orange caskets. Mountains of water and jam rolls, Ukrainian -speaking volunteers. Free transfers to the cities of Poland.

With the outbreak of war, Poland opened the border with Ukraine. Now you can go through it without a visa and passport - only a Ukrainian identity card is required, for children - a birth certificate.

Maria - she was 65 years old - she stood on the border for 20 hours, from 9 pm until 3 o’clock in the afternoon, "did not drink, did not eat, did not go to the toilet."

- It was lucky for me that I was so little. And she crossed - they drove tea, gave 300 zlotys. I will return later, I am not poor. Poland accepted us like that! I love Ukraine, but I love Poland too. I can’t get enough of how the Poles serve us, how they love us, welcome us.

It hurts to say, but it was necessary to prepare for the war for a long time. Putin has long said that Ukraine is not a country, and we are not a people. Just no one could believe, I did not believe. And when the first siren howled - I did not believe. You can’t give evil to be reborn, but what if it is already if it stands on the wing?

The Polish volunteer Symon from a neighboring village arrived because there is a car - he wants to take people to neighboring cities. He says: “We have young people very outraged that Poland does not enter the troops to the aid of Ukraine. Ukraine is now in the same position in which Poland was during the occupation in 1939. We see a lot of parallels, inaction is simply unbearable. ”

Border post Medyka-Proprini, Poland-Ukraine

February 25 23:00

There is water and food on the Polish side, there is nothing on the Ukrainian side of the border.

I see them through the bars. The queue does not look like a queue - in the drive in front of the Ukrainian border a dense crowd, over a thousand people, exclusively women and children. The crowd continues for the drive. People stand on the ground, on the dust trampled to the dust of last year’s grass, many are wrapped in blankets. Children, even the smallest, stand next to adults. Babies are held in their arms. I see a woman who puts a dough with a child on a bag. The other sits on the side of the line, twisting, hiding the child between his knees and stomach.

There are suitcases, cells with pets, signs of peaceful life.

These are people who cross the border on foot. There is also a car queue - cars are in two rows, stretched for 30 kilometers deep into the country. Separately - and, it seems, faster - misses buses. It is impossible to get into buses.

The Ukrainian border guard plants on a bus that has already crossed the border, a Russian citizen - she was not allowed to Ukraine. People with Russian and Belarusian passports are not allowed into the country.

“There is no place,” says the driver.

“Now I’ll take the bus addictedly,” says the border guard. - Be a man, you. I say humanly - put the fat to Warsaw.

- Do you order me?

- I order. You are a man and she is a man.

I cross the border on foot with a woman carrying a box with oranges - she was given out by their Poles, "for Ukrainian children." The young border guard with a machine gun shows us a passage in the labyrinth of buses.

It turns out that this thousand women and children are not the whole crowd. The main accumulation of people is behind the checkpoint of Ukrainian border guards, located 1.5 kilometers from the border. In order not to create chaos. There, men leave women to return back to Ukraine.

Misha and Slavik, we walk from the Polish border towards Lviv. Misha from Transcarpathia, Glory from Ternopol. Misha 38, Glory 39. They only met here, both just sent wives and sons across the border and now “completely calm”. From the bridge - the nearest town - to the border, they, their wives and children, walked. This is 18 kilometers. Now 18 kilometers must go back to the bridge. From there you can try to get to Lviv, and already from Lviv - get home and wait for the summons for war.

The guys take turns dragging my bag with a body armor.

They don’t want to talk about the war. Misha talks about the resort of the warm waters on which it works. Hot thermal springs beat out of the ground, you can relax, and there are barbecue. Slavik says how he takes the attractions in Northern Europe and rinses children - the work of dreams.

“We lived very well,” says Glory. - True, it is so good that even does not happen.

“But Coronavirus everyone has now forgotten,” says Misha. - Everyone is still on coronavirus.

We go a kilometer per kilometer along the line of the firmly standing cars.

From the darkness, people, people, people go towards us. Coaters on wheels rumble along the asphalt. Dogs are leading on the leashes-delicate cocker springs with long ears, small fox-shaped Japanese dogs, decorative rocks from a past, peaceful life. Dogs play with each other and seem satisfied with a walk.

On the way, we meet three gas stations. Each still works in two sister girls. Girls are afraid to not cope with the crowd, and the queue is waiting outside. On the street minus six. Only children are allowed to warm up inside. To buy water or a glass of coffee, you need to defend at least two hours.

People are in silence, no one has the strength to talk. The woman writes a voice in the phone: “They will not kill us, but will torment and rape. Take it in full. "

Nearby, the Insurance Universalna Glass Tent for Children's tea-a woman-worker comes out, gathers children and gets them inside.

We are going all night. Cars do not end, people who go towards us do not end.

Towards are dark -skinned girls from Bangladesh - students of the Kyiv Medical University, drag a suitcase tied with a scarf - the pen broke down. Behind them is a Batu from the Congo - an engineer, also studied here, but already released, brought a friend - to see Ukraine. “The embassy says that you have to wait for an airplane from Kyiv. But we decided that on foot is more reliable. ”

Black jeep is trying along the oncoming line. A man pops up across from a number of cars, shines with a flashlight. On the front seats is a man and a young girl, they are squinting from the light. A woman runs to a jeep: “What are you doing? Shame on you! There are women, children, we are standing for a day. ” "Turn out, creature!" - shouts a man. But there is no police here, and the jeep is growling, jumping forward, rides on.

Mostska, Ukraine

February 26 7:00

In the bridge, we enter under the siren of civil defense. The bridge smells of fresh bread.

- Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole! Ukraine - forward! - A drunk guy dances in a dividing strip. Nearby volunteers in yellow vests regulate movement, ignore the drunk.

The bus station is closed. In front of her - a crowd of women with children and babies - is waiting for a possible bus towards the border.

The woman-man, the threatening sidewalk nearby, suddenly begins to scream:

- Yes, let us already capture us! What kind of power that cannot organize buses! 15 kilometers can not be transported women and children!

Airy anxiety continues to sound. No one pays attention.

Lviv, Ukraine

February 26 12:00

Teenagers watch video on the phone: Ukraine calls on the red cross to take out the bodies of Russians. The girl of about 15 says: “Well, no, no. Let our land be fertilized, fertilized well. ”

In Lviv, cafes, manicure salons, shops with clothes are closed. Redeous foods are open. At the entrances to the city began to organize checkpoints. The city announced a curfew from 22 to 6 in the morning. There is no panic.

In the house of the baby organized a transshipment point for refugees, another at school No. 50. Humanitarian help for refugees is collected in schools. Lvovians let refugees for apartments, some live up to 30 people, hotels rent beds instead of rooms. Today they expect three trains from Kyiv. They say that these trains are allowed without tickets, "the goal is to withdraw everyone who can."

The mayor of Lviv Andrei Sadovy said on Twitter: “In the area of ​​Brodov, at 9 in the morning, a Russian landing landed on 3 helicopters. About 60 people. Our troops repulsed. Now they are retreating towards the forest in the Levyatin area. ” The SBU denied this statement, but Lviv believes the mayor.

Brody is 90 kilometers from Lviv.

Lvivovs say:

- The landing in the fords is doomed. I don't understand the Russians. They throw soldiers into an uninhabited country, they all die. What are they counting on? They sacrifice soldiers to scare us? These are the commanders-criminal commanders.

- I was born in Lviv, here I grew up. She spoke and speak Russian. I did not hear the words to myself. The son studied at a Russian school, there are six of them. I really wanted him to read Dostoevsky, Chekhov. But I took him from there - since they began to celebrate the Day of Russian Spring there. Dostoevsky himself will read, if he wants.

-When our Lviv in 2014 was sent to the Donbass, I thought everything-young bodies. What a horror it is. And now I think about ours and the Russians - young bodies, and they will be cut now. I just think about it.

From today, by order, all the basements have been opened. Anatoly senior at home equipped shops, put water and cups.

- The benches are bad, from the boxes. I had good on my balcony, and I threw them out, an idiot. I did the repair in the apartment, six months, day a day. The trenches did I have to dig? And what trenches, when do they beat from the air? We had to raise the air defense.

On the market they receive dollars of 30 hryvnias, selling 37 each.

For this day, air anxiety in Lviv sounds five times. People run to the basements. There are no explosions.

Photo on the cover: Wojtek Radwanski, EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid