_1.jpg?itok=ukxv2V43&offsetX=0&offsetY=507&cropWidth=1200&cropHeight=675&width=2048&height=1152&impolicy=dynamic "Dutch stragglers in Ukraine: ‘It was naive to stay’")
Peter Dijkstra has lived in Kiev for ten years. He met his ex-wife here and they had a daughter together. After the divorce, he decided to continue living in Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine completely changed his life. “You suddenly wake up in a completely different world: bizarre and surreal.”
Dijkstra decided not to flee, but to stay to help. “We won’t just be chased away by someone with a Napoleon complex. I love the people here and if everyone just leaves, it will only be demotivating.”
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His mother also plays a role in his choice. “My grandfather was in the resistance. My mother said that I reminded her of him and that she was proud of me. That gives the citizen courage.”
Small bunker
Dijkstra planned to donate blood, distribute food and distribute medicines, but that turned out to be more difficult than expected. “It was my idea to help, but that was a little naive. I’m just sitting in here.”
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He has converted the hall in his apartment into a small bunker. “It’s safest here in the house. There are no windows around and the walls are the thickest here.”
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Here he hides together with two cats that he has taken over from his refugee neighbour. “This is actually the only thing I have been able to do so far to help. She wanted to run away, but the cats couldn’t. I then took them home myself.”
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‘Another mouth to feed’
According to Dijkstra, going outside entails too much risk. “I can’t go outside, because people quickly think I’m Russian. There is a chance that I will be shot.”
He would prefer to leave now. “I actually help people best by leaving. I can give the keys to my apartment to my neighbor. She then has a lot more food, water, and can use my car to warm herself if the power goes out. I I’m actually alone now another mouth to feed† That was not the intention.”
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Leave
But leaving is no longer an option at the moment. “Yesterday I went to look at the train station. It is now women and children first and that is right. So I will have to wait my turn.”
The images at the station have made a deep impression on Dijkstra. “Men had to say goodbye to their families there. It was heartbreaking. Ukrainians are a very strong people, but at a moment like that you can’t stand it anymore.”
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Unrest in villages
Another Dutchman, Bart van der Vossen, has been living in a village close to Kiev for 25 years. For him, fleeing is not an option now. “If I travel now, there’s a higher chance that something could go wrong. Especially if you’re leaving from eastern Ukraine, I wouldn’t do it myself. But people still do it.”
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It is unsafe in his village. “It’s been really tough here and a lot of things have blown up. I try to help where I can, but I’m mainly indoors. It’s too dangerous to go out on the streets now.”
There is nothing to do but wait. “I don’t know how things will go in the coming days. Putin is bombing more and more places around us. We can’t just watch, can we? We’ll just have to wait and see.”
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