We see them as we enter the dark reception area of the guesthouse. They are squeezed together in a tired sofa. Three-year-old Illya is a little grumpy, but that’s not so strange. The family sitting there has been living in the middle of the war for the past week.
Eventually it became so dangerous that they packed what they could carry and left Kyiv.
– We left home without any plan. We only knew that we would go west, says Alisa, while she feeds her son.
– PRELIMINARY SAFE: Late Wednesday night, the family arrived in Vinnytsia. They got to sit with a stranger who had fled with his cat. Photo: Pål S. Schaathun / TV 2
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Alisa’s husband, Tim, and his brother, Oleksy, are on the run. They were lucky and got to ride with a man, who also escaped from Kyiv with his cat.
Sleep in parking garage
The next morning we meet the family again. They have just woken up when we arrive. While the youngest is full of energy, the adults are still exhausted. They have been awake through a long nightmare. The time before the war is already difficult to remember.
– This is the first quiet night we have had in the last seven or eight days, Alisa says.
Illya, who is running around the room, coughs violently.
– His cough comes from the fact that we slept in the parking garage, and became very cold, his mother says.
Then the bomb rain from the window
The family’s apartment is in a 17-storey building. And what we have seen on TV from Kyiv, Alisa has seen through her own window.
– We saw the bomb hit the TV station. We also see Vasilkiv airport from our window. There were three bombs that hit. We saw flames there for two days, she says.
– KNOW WHAT WAR IS: Three-year-old Illya has learned that there are good men who protect him from bad men. Photo: Pål S. Schaathun / TV 2
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That the son will experience war makes the pain even worse for Alisa.
– I told him it was war. I have explained to him, as one does to a child, that there are evil people and good people. The good protect us from the bad. That’s how he understands it. Children should not have to know what war is, she says.
Alisa cries without tears. She has no more left. She ran out in the first days of the war.
– My husband can confirm that the first two days I could not play with my son because I cried so much, she says.
Alisa pulls the sweater over her head, to hide from her son that she is sad. It is the same green sweater she wore when they fled the apartment in Kyiv eight days ago. They just packed clothes for little Illya. Behind her, the three-year-old sits on dad’s lap and watches his cartoon.
Will not leave the country
– Lift me up!
Illya wants to play. Dad Tim lifts him up to wild excitement. Uncle Oleksey can barely keep his eyes open.
The family does not know where to turn. But one thing is for sure, Alisa will not leave the country.
– EXHAUSTED: Uncle Oleksy watches while dad Tim lifts Illya up on his shoulders. The little boy howls with joy. Photo: Pål S. Schaathun / TV 2
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– Only my child and I can cross the border. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 must stay in the country. They must stay in case there are not enough people who can defend the country. So my husband can not leave the country, nor can my brother.
– I can not go without my husband. He wanted me to travel, and bought train tickets for me and my child. But I said no. I can not leave him, she says with tears in her eyes.
– MUST MOVE AGAIN: The guesthouse had no room for them for more than one night. Now they move on to a hotel that had rooms available. Photo: Pål S. Schaathun / TV 2
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Fear the Russians are destroying the whole country
Life has been completely turned upside down. A week ago, mom and dad sent little Illya to kindergarten. They worked from home, and could go to the gym, before picking the three-year-old and eating dinner.
Now Alisa fears that the Russians will bomb the country to pieces, and that there will soon be no places where they can be safe in Ukraine.
– They can reach our whole country with rockets and not spare anyone. I’m afraid the bombs are falling all over the country, so no one can live here anymore.
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