Four years of war in Ukraine and finding safety in Cork, with Liudmyla Bortok

‘On 24th of February, 5 in the morning, I woke up because my
neighbours were screaming and I heard like, “It started! It
started!”


‘I looked out of the window and I saw explosions. I was in Kyiv
at the time and I saw explosions going around... you could hear
explosions, and people were rushing for the apartments to the
parking spot we had, and just packing their bags, kids, all they
had, pets, and just leaving immediately.


 


‘It took me 30 hours just to get away from Kyiv on that day.’


 


It’s four years today since Russia’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine. It was a day that changed the course of world history,
with ripple effects on the lives of ordinary people all over
Europe and further afield.


The increasingly brutal and intractable war also has changed
Ireland, with almost 120,000 Ukrainians seeking refuge here since
the war began. About 84,000 of them mostly women and children,
remain in Ireland.


One of those is journalist Liudmyla Bortok, who fled to Cork with
the assistance of an Irish colleague, driving across Europe with
her elderly father, her teenage son and her cat.


On today’s episode Liudmyla speaks candidly about the personal
toll of war, the difficulty caring for vulnerable family members
in a time with no instruction manual, the welcome she has
received in Ireland, and how Ukraine has dropped down the news
agenda over four grinding years of war.


 


Liudmyla Bortok: Every year we pray for the war to end, and for
Russia to leave us alone


'Ireland stands in solidarity with Ukraine' on eve of fourth
anniversary of Russian invasion


Four years of Ukraine war: EU leaders battle with Hungary on
support


Ukraine is the biggest and most consequential of all the American
betrayals


 


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