Across Europe, Ukrainians Remain in Wartime Limbo Far From Home

By Kuba Stezycki and Ali Kucukgocmen

WARSAW/ISTANBUL, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Maryna Bondarenko says she has three suitcases packed in her apartment in Poland, waiting for the day when peace returns to Ukraine.

The 51-year-old journalist fled Kyiv with her son and mother after Russia launched its invasion on February 24, 2022. She thought they would be abroad for a month or two until the war ended.

Four years later, she is still there, working in a Ukrainian‑language newsroom that caters to a community of more than 1.5 million Ukrainians living in Poland. 

"There were so many moments when we thought: 'This is it, we're finally going back.' We went to the post office several times, packed our belongings into boxes, absolutely certain that we were going back," she said.

Ukrainian Refugees Across Europe: Lives in Limbo

    Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has triggered the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two. More than 5 million Ukrainians are scattered across Europe, according to UN figures, many of them in Central and Eastern Europe.

Poland: Family Separation and Daily Struggles

SEPARATED FROM HUSBAND

  Roughly three-quarters of the refugees are women and children, after Ukraine imposed martial law prohibiting men of military age from leaving the country.

Bondarenko longs to be reunited with her husband, Andrij Dudko, a 44-year-old former TV cameraman who is serving as a drone operator on the front line. But waves of Russian air strikes - which have cut power to tens of thousands of people in Kyiv during a bitter winter - convinced her to stay.

"We get ready to leave, and then there's another massive attack. We get ready again, and then cold winter comes and there is no heating, no power, no water. And I just can't bring my child there, under the rockets."

Tensions Over Welfare Benefits

In Poland, large Ukrainian communities have sprung up in cities such as Warsaw and Krakow, sometimes prompting tensions with local residents who complain of the new arrivals taking welfare benefits and jobs.

"I want to go home, I really do. I know it won’t be easy," said Bondarenko, adding that the country she returns to will be profoundly changed.

Prospects of Return

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government hopes that 70% of Ukrainians abroad will return, once the war ends. But surveys have shown that, over time, the share of Ukrainians who say they want to go back is declining.

Children Adapting Abroad

For many among the younger generation of Ukrainians abroad - like Bondarenko's 11-year-old son Danylo - the country is a distant memory.

He likes Poland, despite experiencing some hostility toward Ukrainians in school.

"I don't really remember anyone from Ukraine. I remember I had one friend, but I do not really remember him and I’ve lost contact with him," he said. "I don't think that I will return to Ukraine."

Istanbul: New Beginnings and Uncertainty

    'LIFE TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY'

    Iryna Kushnir and Olga Yermolenko, who were friends at high school in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, rekindled their friendship after they both fled to Istanbul at the start of the war, part of a far smaller number of Ukrainians who sought shelter in Turkey. 

"I thought the war would end quickly, so I didn't plan to stay in Istanbul for long," said Kushnir, 42, who left her 19-year-old daughter Sofia behind in Ukraine to study.

Work and Education Abroad

But four years later, she is married to a Turkish man and has a teaching job at the Ukrainian department of Istanbul University.

"Like all Ukrainians, I planned to return home, but life turned out differently," said Kushnir, who says she is proud that her daughter has chosen to remain in Ukraine.

Her friend, Yermolenko, 43, works remotely from Istanbul as a financial specialist for Ukrainian clients. Her mother Tetyana, 73, still lives in Kharkiv and they are constantly in touch.

"I cannot say I am involved 100% in Turkish life. It is a bit strange feeling to be caught between your previous life and a possible future life," said Yermolenko, who has started learning Turkish. She still closely follows events in Ukraine but tries not to think about how long the war will last.

Real-Time Fears from Kharkiv

"I open the news - there's a Telegram channel that reports what's happening in Kharkiv in real time - and I see a missile flying toward my home," she said. "In that moment, the feeling is terrifying. I’m very scared. And of course, I immediately call my mom to make sure she's okay."

(Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Gareth Jones)