Ukrainians Abroad Talk of Shock and Disbelief as Homeland Is Invaded

A number of of its members are Ukrainian and everybody knew somebody trapped within the nation.

Marichka Marczyk, on the rehearsals in London, mentioned in a phone interview that she’d simply had a textual content change along with her brother in Kyiv about what to do if he was killed within the battle. “My will is easy,” he replied. “Burn my physique/scatter the ashes,” including: “All my riches to my child.” These riches embrace his honey bees.

Comparable scenes performed out in cities throughout Europe, the place Ukrainian expatriates have been grappling with the troubling information from their homeland. In Berlin’s Pariser Platz, a whole lot of somber protesters wrapped in Ukrainian flags gathered on Thursday.

Lyudmyla Mlosch, 70, who runs an affiliation for Ukrainians in Berlin, had been up since 5:30 a.m., making an attempt to arrange short-term shelter for buddies, household and others who handle to depart the nation. Her son and his household reside in northwestern Ukraine and her grandson is finding out on the college in Kyiv, she mentioned, including, “My coronary heart is damaged in two,”

“It’s such terrible information; I’m so unhappy — I simply really feel helpless,” she mentioned. “When Putin says Ukraine belongs to Russia, I don’t perceive how he may do such a factor to his brother and his sister,” she mentioned.

In Madrid, a small group of protesters, some in tears, gathered exterior the Russian Embassy to demand an finish to the invasion. They waved Ukrainian flags and shouted “terrorists.”

Nadiya Pshenychniak, a cleaner who has lived in Madrid for 20 years, mentioned that she was extraordinarily nervous for her household within the western Ukrainian metropolis of Lviv, together with one among her daughters who just lately had a kidney transplant. However, she added, “That is sadly not such an enormous shock, as a result of Russia has all the time needed Ukraine and has a protracted historical past of doing horrible issues to our individuals.”

Ms. Pshenychniak, 69, had plans to go to her household in the summertime, however she now fears that it could be a while earlier than she is going to see them once more.