A student has spoken about the horrors her grandmother has experienced during the war in Ukraine, which has left some of her family dead.
Sussex University student Anna Maria Szalay and her family helped her gran Svetlana to escape from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv following the outbreak of war a year ago today.
She said that her gran had a narrow escape when a Russian missile struck close by while she was queuing for medication towards the start of the invasion.
Anna said: “The missile travelled so close by that it was almost as if it was travelling along the road.
“Everyone scattered but, because she couldn’t run, she had to stand there while the missile roared past and had to hope that shards of the damage wouldn’t hit her.
“Her memories are only a small part of what everyone in Ukraine is still experiencing.”
Anna explained how her grandmother took a perilous journey from Lviv to the Ukrainian border.
She said: “All our memories are patchy but it took a few precarious days of travelling by car to Lviv.
“They travelled in convoy style, sticking close by to each other.
“They stopped at an abandoned school overnight to shelter and to find food, but missiles were heard so close that they only managed a few hours rest before continuing on.
“The memory of this escape haunts her every day and every night.”
Svetlana stayed with a friend of a friend, where five people and a baby sheltered from Russian airstrikes in just one room.
After a few days, she managed to get a bus across the Polish border to Warsaw, where she met with Anna’s mother and spent an exhausting week getting a visa to the UK sorted.
Anna said: “My gran said that every time she looked out of the bus window, she could see people crossing the border on foot, including children with their small colourful cartoon backpacks.
“Once in Warsaw, my mum met her just after midnight, trying to pick her out from the buses that were travelling in a convoy for safety.
"My mum yelled for her mum until she spotted her in the crowd.
“There was such a sea of people, with volunteers providing first aid, help and a comfotring smile for the Ukrainians.
“Although my gran had a visa, there was no stamp because the British embassy had closed its doors in Kyiv the moment the sirens sounded.
"They instead went to the embassy in Warsaw and sat there all day, every day - they didn’t even leave to get lunch in case they missed something.
“Eventially, after pressure from different angles, a stamp was put in my gran’s passport, a process that took less than 30 seconds.”
Svetlana now lives in the UK with Anna’s mum.
They have also sponsored a family friend from Ukraine to stay in Britain.
Anna and her family have not been spared from the immense loss the Russian invasion has brought with it, with some of her family being killed during the defence of Kyiv.
She said: “I am incredibly proud of our army, our people and their bravery. No matter what, the Ukrainian spirit has persevered.”
Other members of Anna’s family have returned to Kyiv and are trying to go about their normal lives amid blackouts, air raid sirens and empty shelves in the shops.
Anna explained that her gran often feels guilty that she is not in Ukraine.
She starts her mornings calling family and checking the news to see if she recognises any destroyed buildings.
Anna said she has been horrified to see places she has visited in the past destroyed by the Russians.
She said: “I used to visit Crimea every summer as a child before 2014 and many people have lived their entire lives there.
“The war crimes committed disgust me.
"Killing a man with a gun is one thing, but pillaging villages and the young girls and women made to suffer because of animals is unforgivable.
“When, not if, the war is over, every single one of those Russian soldiers will be brought to justice.”
Despite her horror at the ongoing war, she still has hope that Ukraine will eventually prevail.
“My gran always raised me to stand up against bullies and that ethos is clear in the Ukrainian forces,” Anna said.
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