Not all Dutch people in Ukraine want to leave the country, like Bart van der Vossen (63). He has lived in Ukraine for 25 years and now lives in a village near Kiev. He has not yet seen a soldier in the village. But during a telephone interview with the NOS, he hears two bombings a little further away. He collects his wife and five relatives from Kiev that he has taken in and takes them to the bomb shelter. “Oh, I also have to warn the neighbor, she has a child of one and a half years.”
A good night’s sleep is not in it for the time being. Occasionally the dogs will strike, or he will hear noises and look up information online. He is nervous about the current situation, sometimes so much that he throws up. “That’s healthy tension,” says de Drent, hypothermic.
But he certainly doesn’t plan to leave. “I don’t want to throw away what I’ve built here. If we leave, the house will be looted. What choice do you have then?” He also has three dogs and a cat: “They don’t cross the border, and you don’t throw your children on the street, so neither do your pets.”
The Dutch in Ukraine keep each other informed of events via an app group, says Van der Vossen. They give each other courage: “There is a lot of fake news from the Russians, don’t panic.” Another responds with: “At our house now the umpteenth bombing in Borispol. All lights out in the street and at home, so as not to be a target.”
Dutchman Chris left for Kiev with his family, hoping they would be safe there:
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