Ukraine is once again feeling the buzz of movement this summer, as families formerly split up by Russia’s intrusion gather either back in their native land or in the European Union countries that have offered refuge to over four million Ukrainian expatriates. Ukraine’s transportation network, buses and railways, is alive with activity, linking it with EU cities and airports. However, the family reunions overseas are often incomplete, since men under the age of 60 are compelled to remain in Ukraine, poised for potential recruitment into their embattled military.
This summer sees Dasha Baieva embark on a 3,500-kilometre journey, stretching from the easternmost point of the continent to its westernmost end. She is retracing her steps from Zaporizhzhia, a city on the frontlines, to Connemara, which she had visited after Russia’s total invasion in February 2022.
Since the initial invasion, Baieva’s elder sister, Anastasiia Barska, has been living in Connemara with her two young children. Barska’s parents are back in the war-torn city of Zaporizhzhia, while her husband is in Kyiv, a city frequently under threat of missile and drone attacks. Barska occasionally manages to visit her husband.
Although reluctant to leave Zaporizhzhia, Dasha, who was 16, had to move to the comparative safety of Lviv in Western Ukraine in March 2022, amid Russia’s bombing campaigns and occupation efforts in parts of her region.
Anastasiia and her children had previously sought refuge in Lviv, having evacuated Kyiv by train, spending the first week of the full-scale invasion hiding from Russian air raids. As the war showed no signs of slowing, Anastasiia decided to take her family to Poland, then onto Ireland, where they could get assistance from a family friend.
An allocated room in a hotel in Carna was their home after they landed in Dublin. They completed the final leg of their journey, a seven-hour bus trip alongside numerous other refugees, to a village in the Connemara Gaeltacht.
Dasha, longing to become a professional dog trainer and fluent in English like Anastasiia, admits she missed her family, friends, dogs, and home in Ireland, prompting daily calls back to Ukraine.
Numerous Ukrainian kids started attending local schools, however, I asserted that I would conclude my study in Ukraine via the internet. I was in the final year and undertook my examination in the summer of 2022, aiming to secure an opportunity to attend university in my home country,” Dasha stated. She joined an agriculture university in the city of Sumy, located just 30km from the Ukrainian-Russo border to the north. Dasha completed her first year of study whilst situated in Ireland, determined to return to her native land despite ongoing violent conflicts and air bombardments.
“My longing for my friends and family in Ukraine is something I can’t overlook. It’s extremely challenging for me. Ireland feels like second home, but Ukraine remains close to my heart,” Dasha emphasised.
“My mother was discontent upon my decision to return and wished for me to prolong my stay in Ireland, however, she is aware of the pointlessness in discouraging me from doing something I am strongly committed to. I affirmed that I would commemorate my 18th birthday in Ukraine – and indeed I did so.”
Dasha reached Sumy during a time when cross-border cannonade and drone blitz caused it to be one of Ukraine’s most perilous regions. Nonetheless, she bore an equivalent fear of potentially forgoing her native student life.
“Whilst studying over the internet, I would receive calls from Sumy, and on one occasion they were conducting a session on apiculture. Everyone was present there, sampling diverse honey flavours while I was merely displayed on a small screen at one corner of the phone. That evoked sorrow,” she reveals from Zaporizhzhia, whilst preparing for her summer vacation to Ireland.
“I’m elated now, to be close to my parents, grandparents and friends once again. Even if my friends are situated in Kyiv, I can be with them by the following day,” she supplements. “The atmosphere here can be intimidating at times. I recollect an incident around a fortnight ago when I was awakened by the deafening sounds of explosions seemingly close to our house. However, in merely ten minutes I thought, ‘Alright, those bloody Russians, I’m heading back to sleep.’ This is currently the sole mode of survival in our country.”
Anastasiia (aged 30), however, maintains the view of not subjecting her children Melania (aged six) and Phillip (aged three) to any such risks.
“She recounts leaving Ukraine due to an overwhelming anxiety concerning the children’s protection. For the first seven days of the full-blown conflict in Kyiv, she hadn’t been able to sleep or eat due to a primal fear rendering her paralysed and focused only on staying alive.
In Zaporizhzhia, there was a particular rough patch last year when residences were being annihilated on a nightly basis. She got up and retired with the news, it was particularly arduous, she remembers.
She carries the burden of Ukrainian events due to her extensive network of friends and family in the country. Although, she less frequently reads the news now. She stopped obsessively tracking the news every 20 minutes in acknowledgement that it was taking a toll on her health, to fret over a situation she could not influence.
Anastasiia, her sister, and their mother, Oksana, were separated from their father, Vadim since they evacuated Ukraine. Unlike Anastasiia’s husband and other men who are under 60, Vadim was forbidden from vacating Ukraine and was potentially subject to conscription in the military. Anastasiia recounts that being away from Vadim was extremely tough, especially at the onset.
Their debut return to Ukraine took place in September 2022, roughly six months post-departure. The necessity to reassure both themselves and their children that they retain their familial bonds and continue to lean on each other was underscored by them.
A vacation to Ukraine is unsurprisingly not the most secure option, yet they strive to make the trip every 4-5 months. They maintain communication with Anastasiia’s husband online as consistently as possible, but power failures in Kyiv commonly interrupt their internet service.
This summer in Ireland, Dasha eagerly anticipates the arrival of Anastasiia and her children, as well as the company of their Irish and Ukrainian comrades. Nonetheless, she describes her return to Ukraine with total positivity, notwithstanding frequent Russian offensives on Zaporizhzhia and Sumy.
A disastrous missile attack in the town of Vilnyansk, just 30km from Zaporizhzhia on June 29th, confirmed the deaths of seven people and left 31 others wounded. Amongst the victims were two children, and an additional eight children were injured.”
“The sound of an explosion can be terrifying,” explains Dasha. “Disturbingly, the harsh reality now is, if you hear the blast, it was not intended for you, which makes you fortunate.”
Anastasiia, Melania, and Phillip have relocated from their hotel in Carna, now residing in the neighbouring fishing hamlet, Kilkieran. Anastasiia expresses that her children, who are bilingual in English and Irish, “feel like they belong to two homelands: Ukraine and Ireland.” She is immensely grateful for the substantial support the family has received from the locals since they moved into the neighbourhood.
Despite this, Anastasiia finds herself contemplating their future every single day. “There are reservations about returning to Ukraine, and uncertainties about remaining here. Making a decisive choice is challenging in the current circumstance, we’re uncertain about the situation unfolding in Ukraine,” she voices. “I observe that my children are content and safe in Ireland, which brings joy to my heart. This is all I’m certain of at this moment. Hence, our future plans are still ambiguous – we’ll decide in due time.”