We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/Script Ukrainian women in Poland - Mendoza
Headline: Generations of Ukrainian Women Flee War, Share Their Stories
Date:
Published at: 4/3/2022 at 6:45pm
Byline: Celia Mendoza
Contributor: Julia Riera
Dateline: Medyka, Poland
Videographer: Celia Mendoza
Producer:
Script editors: KE(1st), Bowman
Video source(s): VOA
Platform(s): Web___ TV_X__ Radio
TRT: 2:36
Vid approved by: Holly Franko
Type: TVPKG
((INTRO))
[[ Grandmothers, mothers and children account for most of those fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine. Each refugee has a story as well as hopes for the future. VOA’s Celia Mendoza reports from Medyka, Poland. ]]
((NARRATOR))
A few weeks ago, Vira Pavlina was an ordinary Ukrainian grandmother. Today she’s a refugee.
((Vira Pavlivna, Ukrainian Refugee)) ((IN UKRAINIAN))
“In Soviet times we lived well, we probably don't need Russia after this. I don't know how to explain it.”
((NARRATOR))
Pavlivna had to flee Kyiv with her grandchildren, fearing for their lives.
((Vira Pavlivna, Ukrainian Refugee)) ((IN UKRAINIAN OR RUSSIAN))
“Because of the war, because of the bombs. Because they're bombing Ukraine. Shooting villages. They do scary things. Everyone went wherever they could. We tried to stick together and now we have decided to save our children … our angels. It's not their fault."
((NARRATOR))
Yulia Usik is a mother of two. After surviving nearly two weeks of Russian attacks and bombings, Usik and her husband decided it was time to leave Kyiv.
((Yulia Usik, Ukrainian Mother)) ((IN UKRAINIAN OR RUSSIAN))
"We were under attack and shelling for 13 days, and my husband told me to please get the children out because they were traumatized."
((Yulia Usik, Ukranian Mother)) ((IN UKRAINIAN OR RUSSIAN))
“My husband is in Kyiv. He’s 33 years old. He promised he would come back for us.”
((NARRATOR))
Lilia Kostenko is the grandmother of two youths, Timur and Damir. For her family, the plan initially was to flee to a cottage outside of Kyiv. But as Russian forces drew closer, plans changed.
((Lilia Kostenko, Ukrainian Refugee)) ((IN UKRAINIAN OR RUSSIAN))
“Our husbands told us: ‘Go to Lviv.’ Our daughter's friends took us in at their place. And then, explosions started again, they blew up the airport there, and we decided to leave, now with our daughter's friends.”
((NARRATOR))
Kostenko never imagined she would have to live through war in the 21st century, more than 75 years after the end of World War II.
((Lilia Kostenko, Ukrainian Refugee)) ((IN UKRAINIAN OR RUSSIAN))
“My grandfather fought in Poland and it's horrible, of course. I remembered it.”
((NARRATOR))
For Pavlivna, it’s like taking a trip back in history.
((Vira Pavlivna, Ukrainian Refugee)) ((IN UKRAINIAN OR RUSSIAN))
“I remember the state of the country, how the villages were at that time. 1954 was also hard, very hard. Oh God. We want peace and that the soldiers who are there can protect us. We just want everything to be fine and that there would be peace.”
((NARRATOR))
Refugees tell VOA they hope to able to go home one day with their kids and grandkids, whom they describe as young and resilient – and likely to recover from the trauma of war, if and when peace returns to Ukraine.
((Celia Mendoza, VOA News, Medyka, Poland.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
