Ukrainian refugee in Portugal says there are people in Russia who ‘don’t believe’ bombs are falling on Ukraine

At the end of a year of war in Russia, there are people who “do not believe” that bombs are falling on Ukraine, said Lusa Anastasia, a 29-year-old web designer who has taken refuge in Portugal with her husband.

Anastasia always worked and lived with Russians when she lived in Ukraine: “I still have friends, unfortunately even family members who support the war, but some people are still against the war,” he said.

“Many of my friends and colleagues left Russia on February 24, a lot of people. They went to protest against the war, but, unfortunately, they felt bad and had to leave Russia,” he said.

The armed conflict is dividing “many families,” he assured. “I am in Ukraine and I see bombs, and you tell them about it, and they say: “No, these are not bombs. My president told me they weren’t bombs. He protects you.”

“I see these bombs falling on houses and they don’t believe! It is very strange, but I think that propaganda has done a lot (…), but there are still many people against the war,” Anastasia said when asked about contact with across the border.

Neither Anastasia nor her husband thought a war could happen, despite Russian advances into Ukrainian territory in recent years, which had already led to the annexation of Crimea.

“I never thought. Even before the war, people said that maybe there would be a war, and I told them, how could it be, tanks would go through the streets? No, I didn’t believe it. And my husband didn’t believe it. We couldn’t either believe it,” she recalls.

After a year of open warfare, the young web designer sees no way for a political deal to end the conflict that began on February 24, 2022, and has generated the biggest wave of refugees in Europe since World War II. More than 14 million people have fled their homes, including internally displaced persons (6.5 million) and refugees in Europe (more than 7.9 million).

In the city where he was born, in central Ukraine, many young people of his age, aged 28 and 29, died in the war. Odessa, where she lived with her husband, also did not escape the Russian invasion.

Anastasia returned to Ukraine in October to visit her parents and tried to dissuade them from staying in the country: “My parents had many health problems, they were very nervous. I felt how they feel in Ukraine. get used to it. If it’s a war, then they’re used to “missiles”, and this is not very good.”

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that about 10 million Ukrainians, almost a third of the population left in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, suffer from mental health problems, and “four million have moderate to severe symptoms.”

Anastasia follows the news from Ukraine through the Telegram digital platform. “I always keep an eye on every attack and everything else,” he said.

In Portugal, for almost a year, the decision to return to the country has been postponed due to circumstances: “We want to have children, but I can’t imagine children in those conditions, without electricity, without heating.”

At the moment, efforts are directed towards integration in Portugal, including learning the language, in which he sees more than one advantage. “When you understand Portuguese, you can also understand a little Spanish and a little Italian. You learn a language, but you manage to understand several languages ​​at the same time,” he said.

He still speaks English more easily, but enjoys the Portuguese language and “Portuguese songs” and the variety of cultures that remind him of Odessa, home to 140 nationalities. And from the sun.