Refugee children from Ukraine, who came to the attention of the Save the Children Romania organization after receiving humanitarian aid, together with their families, have stories that are hard for even an adult to survive. These are children who left their homes, schools and, in most cases, their parents. Some of them died.

At the end of ten months of war that displaced millions of children from Ukraine, Save the Children Romania is launching an awareness campaign and telling the stories of some of these children to know and understand the horrors they went through. These are children who left their homes, schools and, in most cases, their parents. Some of them died.

Ten stories

The story of a mother who has to bury her husband

Elena has two daughters: Valeria, 13 years old, and Angelina, 8 years old. She left Odesa to give shelter to children. Father stayed to fight in Ukraine. These days Olena asked for help – someone to look after the two girls while she returns to Odesa to hide her husband. A mine exploded, several soldiers died, including himself. He cannot know that he is buried without saying goodbye.

Three brothers were left without a home

7-year-old Anna, 16-year-old Anton and 4-year-old Luca arrived in Romania in early March, shortly after the start of the war, which never ended, although the three brothers hoped all summer that they would be able to return home. They left Kharkiv for the Republic of Moldova after their house was damaged by bombs. Now I live in Botoshan, where older children study online, according to the Ukrainian program (1st grade and 10th grade), and a 4-year-old boy goes to kindergarten in Botoshan. All of them attend Romanian language courses. The father, who came with them, returned to Ukraine, and the mother joined the Save the Children Romania humanitarian aid program.

Viktor and the trauma of war

Valentina (33 years old) and her son Victor (9 years old) live in Suceava. On September 11, 2022, Victor, together with his grandmother Inga (56 years old), together with a group of children from the Kyiv region, fleeing the war, came to Suceava in search of a safe haven. Viktor attends the third grade of an online school for children with special educational needs in Ukraine. After traumatic events in the city where they lived, the child suffered developmental delays. In October, Viktor’s mother, Valentina, came to see the child. Valentina worked as a baker and now continues to do so, cooking for children who came from Ukraine. Father stayed in Ukraine during the war.

The family was helped by the Save the Children team, they received individual consultations with a psychologist for the well-being of the child and Valentina’s mental health. With the help of a social worker, they were registered with a family doctor. Viktor attends “School after school” activities and the child shows good results in development.

Bring your boy to the shelter

Milana came to Romania from Zaporizhzhia with her 12-year-old son. He wanted to protect him. It was March 23, 2022. Her husband stayed at the front to fight. Mother decided to stay in Romania, in Iasi, and managed to open her own confectionery laboratory in her rented apartment, where she works with two confectioners from Ukraine.

“I put my husband behind the wheel, and he disappeared over the hill”

• “When our girls saw a black helicopter of Russian troops through the window, my husband said that we should leave the apartment immediately.
• The road from Chernivtsi took us 19 hours and all this time the youngest daughter Anastasia behaved so dignified that I could not even imagine that she could be so brave. The eldest daughter is 12 years old, she tried to be helpful all the time and gave me a lot of moral support when she noticed that I was barely holding back tears after breaking up with my husband.
• I will never forget the image when we got out of the car to say goodbye to my husband. I took his place behind the wheel to continue on the road, and he disappeared over the hill.
• The first month in Romania was very difficult for me, my mother had a heart attack, everything was different.
• My life changed because of the war. For the first three months, I only felt that I existed, although I was a volunteer in support actions for Ukrainian refugees and engaged in logistical support to send medicines, food and body armor to the front for my husband and the Ukrainian military.
• In April, I met Julia, the local coordinator of Save the Children, through a friend from Ukraine. Having met me, Yulia told me: “you will work for us.” Then I did not take her words seriously. But in June it happened, and here I am at an interview with Yulia, after which my new job at Save the Children followed. The project I am working on at Save the Children gives me the opportunity to support people fleeing war.
• In the evening, when I feel that it is very difficult, I calmly go out to the car, take my husband’s jacket that was left there, put it on and cry from despair and pain. I never thought that one day I would experience all the horrors of war. I don’t understand how in today’s world you can have such a sick imagination that you invade another country, kill people, destroy and destroy everything.”

They miss their father

Olga lived with her husband and two daughters in Kyiv. When the war started, the most reliable shelter in the area to avoid the bombings was the pharmaceutical factory where her husband worked. They lived at the factory for four and a half months, trying to protect their lives. But Olga felt that this way of life was not suitable for two girls, so one day she decided to leave for safer places, away from Russian bombings and attacks. Only she and the girls remained.

Meanwhile, a house in Ukraine was destroyed by the bombing of the Russian army, windows were broken, walls were destroyed, and things in the house were stolen by Russian soldiers. At the end of August, Olga and the girls returned to Kyiv for a few days to draw up the necessary documents regarding the demining of the area where the family’s two houses used to be. In order to carry out demining, the Ukrainian authorities needed the consent of the owners, so Olga’s presence in Kyiv was necessary.

• “Romanians are very hospitable. I was well received and treated with care.
• On the street, in shops and in other places, Romanians, when they find out that we are from Ukraine, give us candies and other goodies.
• Now the situation in Ukraine is dramatic. People live without energy, without gas, it’s cold, it’s very hard,” says Olga.

He believes that he made the right choice by coming to Romania. Her girls “are doing very well here,” says Olga, even if they miss their father very much, as well as their puppy from Ukraine. The girls go to school (Polina, 2nd grade) and kindergarten (Kira) in Ukrainian. They like it, they have the opportunity to communicate, communicate, play with other children, they lead an active social life.

Father stayed

Lyudmila is the mother of two children – Yulia, 4 years old, and Olesya, 7 years old. On October 25, 2022, he arrived in Yass. Originally from Odesa region.

Ludmila decided to come to Romania, Iași, on the recommendation of several friends who told her that Romanians are very hospitable and that she could ask for help from Save the Children Romania-Iași. Lyudmila left home with two girls because it was dangerous for her. Her husband remained in Ukraine with disabling diabetes. He did not come with his family to Romania because he was not sure if he would receive free medical services and diabetes treatment.

The trauma of war left its mark

In July 2022, Danylo and his mother came to Romania. At the age of 7, Danylo suffers from behavioral disorders and attention deficit, which is aggravated by the context of the war. The boy is under the care of Save the Children, where the organization’s specialists provide him with psycho-emotional support. At the same time, he received the care of some Romanian psychotherapists and neurologists to continue the treatment he received in Ukraine. Danylo was enrolled in Secondary School No. 1. 73, from Bucharest, in the “School after School” program run by Save the Children. All children here have benefited from school improvement, homework support, recreational and educational activities, supplies and school materials.

The story of Kateryna, 8 years old

Kateryna, 8 years old, came to the Save the Children hub together with her mother, 37 years old, and her sister, aged 1.5 years, to be able to take advantage of the services offered at the hub, on September 28, 2022. Father stayed in Ukraine. The only material/financial assistance is provided by organizations. During the examination, it turned out that the girl needs a family doctor to receive a referral to a pediatric neurosurgeon, because two years ago she received a spinal cord injury in the thoracic region and since then needs constant monitoring.

The family’s case was under the supervision of a social worker of the “Save the Children” organization, so the necessary actions were developed to take the girl to the family doctor, and then she was accompanied to the specialist examination she needed, the costs of the medical examination were paid.

Flee from the war at the age of 11

Maria is 11 years old. She came to Romania with her younger brother, mother and grandmother. A year and a half ago, Maria had an accident on her left leg. Her orthopedic problem is being solved at the Grigore Alexandrescu Children’s Clinical Hospital.

Refugee children from Ukraine who attend school are less likely to feel lonely, but according to a recent Save the Children international report (This is my life and my life), the enrollment rate for children who fled the war in Ukraine remains alarmingly low in Europe). I don’t want to lose a year on this: the experience and well-being of children fleeing from Ukraine”).

More than half of the children surveyed believed that their situation would improve if they had friends from the host community (57%), if they had the opportunity to play sports or pursue their hobbies (56%) and if they learned the local language (54%). Boys are significantly more likely than girls to say they want to have friends in their host community (64% vs. 52%, respectively). Half of the children said they felt more anxious after fleeing Ukraine, with this rising to 78% for children over 16.

Since February 25, Save the Children has been providing material aid (basic food, hygiene products, clothes, shoes, diapers, pacifiers, baby bottles, strollers, bassinets, thermoses with hot water, toys, blankets and other first aid supplies, etc.), translation and informational consultations, psychosocial support, legal, financial consultations, educational, according to needs.

To date, 15,734 people (5,320 households) are registered in the financial assistance program. Of these, 4,926 people (1,648 households) received financial support within 3 months by bank transfer, 9,784 people (3,341 households) were registered by Save the Children advisors through the distribution of vouchers, and 1,798 people (582 households) registered themselves through a QR code received in the first month transfers Save the Children has offered more than 162,000 meals, approximately 600 meals a day, since the beginning of the war through the mobile kitchen in Wam Isakch.