Ukraine, the story of a mother: “My daughter and my grandson on the run, we are afraid”

“I do not wish any mother or grandmother to experience this pain, this enormous suffering. No woman in the world …”. Her voice is broken with emotion. Since at 5am local time, Ukraine has been under attack and has been glued to the smartphone. “I’m waiting for news,” she tells Adnkronos, explaining that she wants to remain anonymous, a Ukrainian woman in Italy for years. Her whole family lives between Kiev and her border. Instead, in 2002 she moved to Sicily, where she lives a community of 2,500 Ukrainians. “My mother, my brother, my daughter, my son-in-law and my grandson … he’s not even 3 years old. They are all there – he says in a faint voice -. I just heard them, they were packing their bags to escape but not they know where to go. There are not even bunkers to hide and escape the bombing. ” After days of waiting tonight the last hopes have been dashed. “War is a reality – she says with a long sigh -. There have been many explosions and militaries are everywhere”. She often returns to her country. “Every three to four months”. The last time she returned in mid-January. “Even then the borders were full of Russian armed forces, there was already a lot of fear and concern. Unfortunately our fears came true tonight”. Putin’s words on TV he listened attentively: “He threatened not only Ukraine, but Europe and the whole world. He did it officially. It is not the first time. Kremlin politics are very aggressive. We all know what. it happened in Georgia: carpet bombing without leaving an entire building. Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union, Ukraine has always been ruled by the Kremlin and the Ukrainian people just want to be free from the Russian empire “. “The Ukrainian military protect our land – she explains – she. Our people are fighting for freedom. We have been fighting for years, we are a people of workers, welcoming people with a big heart”. Many women have left Ukraine. “They also carry out humble jobs, they make sacrifices to help their children left behind. Sicily and Ukraine have been lands of conquest, they have a lot in common, a history of domination”. In recent weeks you have worked to bring your daughter, son-in-law and grandson to Italy. “The little boy did not yet have a passport and without them they could not leave. I had prepared everything, now the flights have been canceled … My son-in-law did not want to leave Ukraine, our men are patriots”. His gaze is once again fixed on her phone and her voice again broken by emotion. “For me it is a great pain, I do not wish it to anyone …”. (by Rossana Lo Castro)