Ludmilla was one of the first refugees to arrive at the centre in Donamon on the Galway/Roscommon border that has been set up to house up to 100 people who are escaping the war in Ukraine.
The first group arrived on Friday evening and Ludmila (Who is an Architect) kindly told her story to John Mulligan who also spoke to Majella Hunt and Adrian Leddy who are part of the team coordinating their arrival.
That story can be found here.
This is her story...
On February 23rd, with my working group of architects and urban planners, I went on a business trip to Akhtyrka. is a small town in the Sumy region.
We developed a master plan for the city of Akhtyrka. At 5 in the morning my boss woke me up and told me to urgently get ready for a meeting, because Russia had begun to withdraw Sumy and began its invasion of Ukraine.
"I heard explosions in the distance. our team of architects gathered and left the city and the Sumy region in the direction of Kyiv. the road was very tense, as we understood that Russian tanks were advancing behind us.
When we entered Kyiv, we saw the first blow-ups of the von troops in the Kiev region. it was just the beginning.
I arrived in Kyiv and hoped that it would be calm at home. the night before the war was unusually quiet. it was an ominous silence.
2.19 am in the morning in Kyiv, it began with the explosion of an aircraft, the wreckage of which fell on the facade of a multi-storey building on a neighboring street. Home was badly damaged.
I went down to the parking lot under the store, which was in my yard. People hid in it all night in fear of dying in their apartments.
There were no conditions for staying there. People slept on the concrete floor, there were no amenities and food. it was +3 outside.
Then I found a fellow traveler and we decided to leave Kyiv as soon as possible. Because events developed so rapidly that it was dangerous to stay in Kyiv.
On the morning of February 25, we left Kyiv. On the road, we thought for a long time about which direction to move. we had to adjust our route, avoiding dangerous areas. because Russian aggression was growing and the trouble instantly hit the entire territory of Ukraine. all military bases, training grounds and airfields throughout the territory of my country were blown up.
"it was terrible. there seemed to be no safe place. along the way, we were continually pursued by air sirens warning of possible air strikes. it was very cruel!
On the way to the border of Ukraine with Poland, we had to spend one night in a Ukrainian city. We were kindly offered lodging for the night by complete strangers who were not indifferent to our situation. but we also understood that all Ukrainians were in the same danger.
The enemy was rapidly building up his military invasion, the cruel motives of which I still do not understand.
On February 26th, when we were passing through Lvov, Russia again launched several air strikes on Ukraine. and our transit through the city of Lvov was accompanied by the sound of an air raid siren.
It was scary.
But the longest seemed to be the way across the border of Ukraine with Poland. There seemed to be no end to this line.
The nights were the hardest. two nights we were in the car. Every 15 minutes we moved only two meters. it was very cold.
We survived so that we would not run out of gasoline, because there was no gasoline at gas stations or there were very long queues.
But I think that families with children have traveled the most difficult and terrible path.
On a frosty night, snow was falling, to the sound of sirens, children with their parents obediently walked several kilometres (60-80 km) to the borders of Ukraine with Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Moldova. having no facilities to eat, drink hot tea or go to the toilet.
Parents did not stop even for a minute, because they were saving their children.
Men accompanied their families to the border and returned to Ukraine to protect its integrity and independence and please God these families reunite again.
