They came to the country for a few days, “a maximum of two or three weeks, until the war is over,” and many even for a year. Women from Ukraine who came to Greece after the Russian attack on their country sent their children to a Greek school in September and began to learn Greek themselves. They are looking for a job or a job better than the one they already have. The return window is always open, but you can’t stand still, wait forever, they explain.

What about the ones that are left? “In the early days, every time the sirens went off, they ran to the basement. Then they went to the hallway, we were told that this is the part of the house where you are most safe. Now they just keep doing what they do. I think they are used to it. I’m scared, I tell them to be careful, but it’s almost normal for them. They live in war.” According to official figures, since the start of the war, 23,300 people from Ukraine, most of them women and children, have applied for a residence permit – with temporary protection – in Greece, and 21,998 people have received the corresponding documents. . A few days ago, this residence permit, which formally expired on March 4, 2023, was extended for another year.

At least 180 people remain in the structures organized by the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum in Elefsina and Serra. The rest are placed in the homes of relatives, acquaintances or rented their own housing at the expense of the provided rental subsidy.

“K” spoke to four women who have been in Greece for many months and who are quietly looking for ways to live in the country and do not have to always rely on the kindness and availability of others. “We know many areas of Athens and went on excursions,” they say, and in their eyes you can read joy and guilt at the same time.

We were driven by fear

“To predict your future, you need to take it into your own hands,” says 28-year-old Yulia Burik. He studied economics and received his master’s degree in Ukraine. In early 2022, she was ready to defend her Ph.D. thesis “on improving company performance,” but the explosions caught up with her. The area where he lived in Kherson was already occupied by the Russians when he decided to leave. “Life was very difficult. There was no medicine, no food. People suddenly disappeared and we never saw them again. We were constantly afraid,” he says. She left with her sister following a convoy of about 500 cars, not knowing Arrived in Romania. “My sister worked remotely. I had nothing to do. At some point, in a Facebook group, I saw that they were looking for maids in Greece, I also had acquaintances here, and I decided to come” .

Everyone here helps

He arrived in Greece in the spring of 2022. “March 14,” he recalls. Since the beginning of the invasion, she had spent her nights and days at the orphanage. Before the war, he worked for the company, but after the invasion, even working remotely was difficult. “I found out that you can go by train to western Ukraine. I took a small bag, a blanket and my computer. My friends took me to the central station at 10 am. A lot of people, things, animals, everything is in disarray, those who could catch up got on trains that arrived empty and left full. In the end, I managed to sit down at 17:00.

Then he thought that he would leave for a while to the west of the country, where there was more security. Then he realized that “a little” is not enough to end the war. Through a network of friends, he arrived in Greece and settled in a house in Varkiza. However, shortly before Christmas, she was told at work if she wanted to return to Ukraine. “We thought things had calmed down in Kyiv,” he says. But it wasn’t.

After the New Year, he again returned to Greece. “I didn’t even have electricity to work. In Greece, wherever I go, everyone helps. Everything is better.” He continues to work for the company where he worked remotely and takes Greek and English lessons. Now he can coordinate his daily activities, shop and move around the city. “I think that when the cold stops in Ukraine, I will return. My friends are there, my sister with my nieces and nephews.”

Only with bag

Natalia Oborska, 42, arrived in Greece last March. Now, a year later, her 7-year-old daughter, who goes to a Greek school, can now speak Greek. She came to Greece because her sister has been living here for many years. “She is married and has children, but I have never visited her. And then the war came, and I had to come.” At first he thought for a month, left with two or three suits in his travel bag, and now he is booking an appointment in the near future. In Ukraine, she worked in industry, making designs for embroidery on a computer. “Greece does not need what I have learned. I don’t even know Greek,” he explains.

“Now I work hard every day and talk with the baby. She knows and helps me.” Her husband stayed in Ukraine, her mother and sister are here, and her cousin was killed in October. What is he thinking of doing from now on? “I don’t want a child to live in a war. I want her to feel safe. When we first arrived, he had constant nightmares. Now he has calmed down.”