A MEAT PLANT worker in Waterford has described how he and his family managed to escape the terror of Russia’s assault on Kyiv over the weekend.
Andrii Kovskyi helped his wife Natalia and their children escape on Friday night, with “no roads” remaining for much of their journey.
The family and their relations in Ukraine made the decision for their children to be taken to safety away from the fighting in the war-torn country, with Andrii heading back recently to help get them out.
The 40-year-old, who works at Dawn Meats at outside Waterford city, headed back to Ukraine to help the family escape, and they began their terrifying journey on Friday night.
Speaking through a translator, Andrii and his wife Natalia Kovalska, 39, described hearing “shootings and explosions” around them as they made their escape.
They said it was a “horrible and scary” time in the Ukrainian capital, as they packed nothing bar their passports to get out of the country.
Natalia and her children had been hiding for several days in the apartment they had been living in. “It’s people hiding in buildings as much as they can.
A lady gave birth to her child because she couldn’t get to the hospital. You just stay where you are in the basement,” Andrii said.
Family members agreed that their children would join the couple on the journey out of Kyiv, as those parents had to stay behind, to fight and to work in Kyiv’s hospitals.
Andrii and Natalia piled the five children – three of whom were their relatives’ children – into a car and escaped capital Kyiv for Lviv.
It is roughly a seven-hour journey in normal times but at this point in Russia’s invasion of the war, there are “no roads” remaining to make the journey any easier.
“As you can imagine you’re trying to get as many people out as you can. From Lviv to Poland it was on a bus with mainly women and children,” he said.
From Lviv, the family were able to get a bus to Krakow, filled mainly with women and children. They managed to land in Ireland on Saturday.
However, because of the size of Andrii’s one-bed flat in Waterford, all five children have been left temporarily with friends in Cork until the family can be reunited.
Local politicians have been contacted to assist the family. They said that even if relatives wanted to leave, they almost certainly couldn’t at this point.
A bridge used to escape was destroyed shortly after the family made their crossing. “There’s currently no roads, everything is in an awful state.
It’s dangerous to be out there, it’s dangerous to be traveling.
“The family left behind, they have no way of getting out. It’s safer to stay put. The cars are not a safe place to be in, nevermind the roads.”
Now, the family is concerned for their relatives who stayed behind and fear for their welfare. “We’re tired, we’re [still] showing up,” Natalia said.
“We’re worried about our family.”
There are roughly 50 Ukrainians in Waterford and the city’s latest solitary demonstration, held on Sunday, saw over 200 turn out on the city’s Mall in support of Ukraine.
According to Micheál Martin, around 1,800 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland since the war started.
In light of growing support via donations for Ukraine, a centralised location in Waterford donations will open tomorrow in an industrial estate in the city at Kilcohan.
It will run Mon-Sun, 5pm-7pm for the foreseeable, according to Waterford City and County Council.
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