A Ukrainian woman who tore herself away from the ‘love of her life’ to save their one-year-old from Russian bombs has found safety in Poland – but says she has ‘left her heart behind’.
Angelina Matvevea, 25, spent two weeks sheltering in a damp basement with husband Andrew, 36, and daughter Olivia when Vladimir Putin launched his onslaught.
She hoped the Kremlin just wanted to scare Ukrainians but knew she had to leave when Russians stormed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant, sparking fears of a second Chernobyl.
The mum is one of countless refugees to leave their partners behind as most men aged 18 to 60 are banned from leaving the country.
‘I didn’t want to do it up until the very moment we said goodbye’, Angelina said. ‘How can you tear yourself from your loved one? It was heartbreaking. We did it for our children.’
After a gruelling journey across the border, Angelina was given shelter by a Polish mum-of-one whose son, 6, gave up his bedroom to take them in.
But she, and millions of others, are now forced to watch from afar as Russian soldiers bomb ‘children, homes and hospitals’ – with no end in sight five weeks in.
Former shop worker Angelina and IT developer Andrew fell in love seven years ago after meeting over social networks.
They did long distance for a year as she studied in Kharkiv but soon after began living together, before Andrew asked Angelina to marry him in a romantic proposal by the sea.
After welcoming Olivia in 2020, the young family lived a ‘normal’ life together until they woke on February 24 to the words ‘Russia attacked us. We have a war’.
‘It was a terrible feeling’, Angelina said. ‘What will life look like now? We watched our neighbours take their children and animals, pack everything into their cars and drive away.
‘We wanted to go somewhere, but we didn’t know where and how long it would last. We still had hope it would settle.’
It finally hit the couple how far Putin was willing to go when they were warned a huge attack on their home city of Kyiv was imminent.
For the next 12 nights, they lay listening to explosions overhead as they slept alongside 40 strangers in the basement of their flat.
Angelina said: ’We were afraid we just wouldn’t wake up or would be trapped under the rubble.
‘But it was a bit easier because there were other people. We weren’t alone. We had food, but as the days passed we had to start saving portions.’
After 12 nights in hiding, Angelina made the gut-wrenching decision to leave her husband and county behind.
Andrew stayed to join Ukraine’s Territorial Defence but there was no space so he began volunteering as a driver helping refugees and medics.
‘I travelled with Olivia and our dog, my mother, my aunt and my sister. We left everything behind – our home, our jobs, our husbands’, Angelina said.
’There were big crowds waiting at the train station and I was praying to God we would get on as we had no strength to drive back home.
‘When we were on, we were told to turn off phones and all sources of light. We were moving in absolute darkness.’
‘I breathed a massive sigh of relief when we reached the border. But I felt scared. ‘I was thinking “How will I live here? I’m alone with a child. Who will take me in? I don’t have enough money to pay rent”’
But hours after they arrived, Angelina, her mum Natalia, 44, and Olivia were given a roof over their heads by Warsaw local Ewa, 35 – who now describes the three as ‘like family’.
‘On the first night, Angie was really tired. It was so emotional. She looked inside the fridge and saw there was food and she just started crying’, Ewa said.
‘It was hard for my son. For the first three days he didn’t want to interact with them at all.
‘He was jealous of the attention we were giving Olivia, but after a week, they clicked and he was playing with her every day.
‘He treats her almost like a sister, although he won’t admit that. He keeps asking me “Why is this not a boy?”
The family has now moved out of Ewa’s flat into their own following a successful GoFundMe to raise money for their own flat, and an offer of very cheap rent from a local woman.
Incredibly, the large apartment can also fit Angelina’s aunt Julia, 41, and her daughter Lisa, 13.
They have grown ‘faith in their future’ thanks to the warm welcome in Poland – but their ‘hearts remain in Ukraine’.
Angelina said: ’It’s so painful watching the war from afar. The nation has shown how united we are, how strong we can be. Our Army is our pride and we’re extremely grateful.
‘We speak to Andrew every day in the morning but we miss him deeply. A part of me stayed with him. We’ve never been parted for so long.
‘But I believe it will end soon and we will see each other. We believe that the truth will win. We will win.
‘How much we will value our future when that happens.’
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