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Transcript/ScriptUKR 1YR: Poland Border Refugees
HEADLINE: Poland Braced for More Refugees, As Fighting Intensifies in Ukraine
TEASER: Many Ukrainian refugees say they have learned to cope with war, 12 months after Russia’s invasion
PUBLISHED AT: 02/15/2023 at 1:45pm
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Przemyśl, Poland
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Ridgwell
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: sv, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:26
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: VPKGN
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[Millions of Ukrainians fled into Poland in the first months of Russia's invasion. A year on, the chaotic scenes at the border have eased – and many Ukrainians now cross back and forth from their home country. As Henry Ridgwell reports from the border town of Przemyśl (Per-jzem-ishul), Poland is braced for a new influx of refugees as the fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine.]]
(NARRATOR))
Olga Schust is returning to Ukraine. She works in Poland – but goes back to look after her parents – who are too old to escape the war. Twelve months of fighting have taken a psychological toll.
((Olga Schust, Ukrainian Migrant (in Polish/Ukrainian) ))
“How can you kill other people like that? The 21st century, everything is moving forward, and here is such despair. People at my age have their lives laid out, they have plans for the future. And it's all destroyed.”
(NARRATOR))
The Polish border city of Przemyśl (Per-jzem-ishul), is a hub for Ukrainian refugees. Charlotte Farrar came here from the United States as a volunteer. She has noticed an uptick in new arrivals.
((Charlotte Farrar, Fastlane Ukraine Coordinator (in English) ))
“Either people feeling afraid of what’s to come, or sort of having the gravity of what’s been happening for the past year hit them all over again as they’ve been struggling through the winter without electricity, heating, clean water and so on.”
(NARRATOR))
In the first weeks of the war last year, tens of thousands of Ukrainians poured into Przemyśl every day – cramming into trains that carried them across the frontier. Many had spent days on the road with little food, drink or shelter.
((Henry Ridgwell, VOA News (standup version) or ((NARRATOR))
“The panic and chaos that filled these platforms in the early days of Russia’s invasion have subsided. But twelve months on, the stories of loss and separation are no less harrowing.”
(NARRATOR))
It is now two-way traffic. Many Ukrainians pass through Przemyśl on their way back home.
Among them are Anna Federova and her two children, who are returning home to Zaphorizhia in Ukraine, close to the frontline. Husband Andriy is staying in Poland – where he works as a driver. The family has spent a week together – and won’t meet again for a month.
((Anna Federova, Zaphorizhia Resident(in Ukrainian) ))
“The war is close by, but I still want to go home. The children, for a while, were very worried, very afraid. But then, I guess everyone just got used to it, you know. Even when you walk and feel the explosions, somehow it is accepted more calmly.”
(NARRATOR))
Taisiia and her daughter Juliana arrived from Kyiv. After a year of traveling back and forth, she is learning to cope with the war.
((Taisiia, Resident of Kyiv (in Ukrainian) ))
“I'm stronger. And it's not so scary anymore. And there is hope that everything will end soon. There was so much unknown, it was unclear when and how - it seemed that nothing would work anymore. But we continue to live, to work, we continue to move. There is hope that everything will be fine soon.”
(NARRATOR))
Hope in the face of hardship. The early fears that Ukraine would fall to Russia’s invasion are gone – replaced by a stoic determination.
But the goodbyes don’t get any easier.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, Przemyśl on the Poland-Ukraine border.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Przemyśl, Poland
Embargo DateFebruary 15, 2023 17:25 EST
Byline((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, Przemyśl on the Poland-Ukraine border.))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
