Olha is a common name in Ukraine, such as Svetlana, Alina, Veronika, Yulia, Viktoria. Many of them live and work in Italy and for us they are Silvana, Olga, Vittoria.
One of them, Veronika, describes what she is living away from her family which today is under Russian bombing. Arrived very young in Milan, just of age, without speaking a word of Italian but with great intelligence and ambition, she managed to enter the world of work with a precise and simple goal: to help her family and one day be able to reach it forever.
The first part of the project was almost completely fulfilled, almost thirty, but the second part - the dream of returning - is for now indisputably frozen. Right now she would like it with all her heart.
That dream was shattered this morning at 6, when Putin launched the harsh attack on Ukraine in contempt of all diplomatic attempts to avert it. Even the whole west area, where Veronika's family resides, is now hell. He tells it to L'Unione Sarda with dignity, without betraying emotions, but the anguish and fear that his loved ones may suffer not only damage but also inconvenience is evident on his face and in his eyes.
“At 6 this morning I received my sister's first message”; the one who just yesterday did everything to return from the city where she works as a doctor specializing in a hospital 40 kilometers from home; "He told me that there were planes overhead, explosions close by, so close that they made the windows of the house vibrate." There is also a brother of Veronika who could be recalled by the army - as they have already done from Kiev for 36,000 reservists - "but we hope they will consider the fact that he has a wife and small children".
The clear feeling “is that they are aiming straight at Kiev and the situation could completely precipitate in a few days. They are bombing all the military posts - he says - they have already done so in the two airports, from which it is now impossible to try to escape ". Even venturing by car to reach the nearby border with Poland is now impossible: endless queues are on the street, and anyone wishing to make an attempt is still blocked at service stations where they deliver only 20 liters of petrol each. And hundreds of cars are waiting.
Another fear that terrifies the inhabitants "is that they may cut off the electricity and the internet". For Ukrainians in Italy and other parts of the world it would mean no longer being able to communicate with their families and not knowing what happens. It is terrifying to imagine that such a disaster could happen in this century.
Veronika would have liked to be there, today, right away, with her mom and dad and the rest of the family. But neither planes nor buses will be able to circulate, effectively decreeing the obligatory isolation and making her feel trapped in a country that is not hers, far from the affections that are the thing that matters most now.
After the interview Veronika sends us a message to say that just at that moment, at 3 pm, they let her know that a bomb has just hit the area where her loved ones live.
(Unioneonline)