It is estimated that around 2,000 Ukrainians live in Luxembourg. Our colleagues from RTL.lu visited two of them to talk about the current situation.
Since last week, Andrii Tkachenko’s days all seem the same. He constantly checks the news about the latest developments in his home country. One week ago, on Thursday morning, his phone rang even before he had seen the beginning of the war on the news.
Tkachenko explains that his family and friends were calling to tell him that the war had started and that bombs were being dropped everywhere, including his hometown. “You cannot believe that it’s happening,” he says, “you hope that you’ve still not woken up and that it’s not true.”
The Ukrainian has lived in Luxembourg since 2014 alongside his wife Galina and their two children. The couple comes from the same town in Ukraine where they grew up and studied. Their family and friends remain in Ukraine, and the current situation is taking a serious toll on their mental health.
Galina Tkachenko states that she feels “drained” with no energy for anything other than watching the news. While she has to continue to function and look after the kids, it is “as if you are not there,” she says. “You do everything automatically because all the attention is there,” Tkachenko explains, adding that it is “very hard to bring yourself back to life and to do your daily duties”.
Until the very end, he hoped that nothing would happen, despite the fact that there were clear signs, Tkachenko says. Now, he also watches Russian TV programmes every day to see how the other side portrays the conflict.
However, since they were recently hacked, they currently show footage of the attacks on Ukraine to show the Russians what is actually happening. Normally, the media controlled by the Russian state only showcase their own perspective. “When you see this propaganda, it’s just frustrating,” according to Tkachenko.
Every day, Tkachenko and his wife talk to their relatives and friends in Ukraine. Tkachenko’s parents live in an area that is not directly affected by the attacks. He hopes that the situation will remain calm in their region, but the experience is different for some of his friends.
Tkachenko explains that if he calls friends who live in places like Kiev, where battles are taking place, he never knows if someone will pick up the phone on the other end or in which direction a call will go, if his friends call him. “It’s a terrible feeling of constant anxiety and fear that does not let you go,” according to Tkachenko.
Natalia Pavlyk feels the same way. The Ukrainian has lived in Luxembourg for over 25 years, is a member of the Integration Commission of the municipality of Sanem, and has founded her own association.
Her non-profit organisation ‘Ukraïnka’, the Union of Ukrainian Women in Luxembourg, has been providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine since 2014. Every week, Pavlyk has been sending a van with material donations to Ukraine.
Her association specialises in medical and paramedical equipment for hospitals and orphanages. But due to the invasion, a lot has changed, including the needs of people on the ground. “Above all else, we need pharmaceuticals, bandages, and tourniquets to stop severe bleeding,” Pavlyk explains. But transport has also become more complicated.
A Ukrainian man volunteered to drive to the border, Pavlyk says, adding that she might join him. At the border, the donations will be loaded onto a Ukrainian van to lessen the bureaucratic issues. The driver of that van will then take care of the rest, while Pavlyk and her driver will return to Luxembourg.
Tkachenko also refuses to simply watch what is happening some 2,000 kilometres away. For this reason, he is collecting data from people who are willing to host refugees at their homes. He takes care of logistics and is also willing to drive. His goals include taking some of the burden off of the men who have to remain in Ukraine to fight.
At the very least, Tkachenko wants to give them peace of mind when it comes to their families. But if the situation deteriorates further and his brother, nephew, or friends are ordered to the frontlines, Tkachenko stresses that he is willing to fight alongside them.
Tkachenko makes it very clear that he does not want to go to war, stressing that “nobody does” ad that it is “a nightmare”. He has also never served in the military, meaning that he is entirely unexperienced in that area.
However, Tkachenko thinks that “you still need to stay together and contribute the maximum you can”. Going to war, he says, is “a last-resort option, but it is an option”. He adds that it is “of course a very sensitive topic for my wife”.
Tkachenko never thought that he would experience war. For the time being, he hopes that countries across the world will continue to demand an end to the war. In his eyes, negotiations are the only way out.
