“No, it’s not heroism, it’s sentiment, it’s the heart that speaks.” When he gets out of his car, this Tuesday, March 1, at the start of the evening, André has the dark circles in his eyes from someone who has driven too much, but he has the feeling “duty accomplished”. Leaving Savigneux on Saturday February 27, he drove to the Ukrainian border to pick up the wife and son of Vadim, this Ukrainian who had become like an adopted son for the Ligerian.
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Vadim has become part of the family for André and Sylvie: the young Ukrainian came every summer to spend one or two months of vacation in the house of the couple from the Loire, from the age of 9. He also adopted them, so much so that he invited them for his wedding, that André was his witness, and that the native of Loire is the godfather of Micha, his little boy of two and a half years.
So when the war broke out on Thursday February 25, they immediately called Vadim. He cannot leave Ukrainian territory, because the men of fighting age must stay. But his wife Anna and his son Micha can. André will therefore undertake a journey of 3,000 kilometers between Savigneux and the border between Romania and Ukraine. Vadim will also entrust him with the family of a friend, Sasha and her daughter. “It’s very hard [pour elles],they leave their men, they leave their country, we don’t know for how long. And Vadim, 31, the horizon he has is to go and face the Russian tanks with his bare hands.”
“They leave their men, they leave their country, we don’t know for how long. And Vadim, 31, the horizon he has is to go and face the Russian tanks with his bare hands.”
The two women do not speak a word of French. Anna does not take her eyes off her little Micha. His gaze, piercing blue, remains terribly worried. “It’s easier now that my child is no longer in danger, but my parents and relatives are still in Ukraine. My husband may die in Ukraine. I can’t be completely calm,” she says. She and her son will be able to stay as long as possible with André and Sylvie. The only one to seem serene is Micha who, from the height of his two and a half years, is taking his first steps in France without knowing when, or only if, he will be able to see his dad again one day.
