• One year after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 20 Minutes is more than ever mobilized to inform you about the conflict. From 22 to 28 February, the editorial team offers reports, analyses, testimonies, videos, podcasts to report on the daily lives of civilians, the military situation on the ground, the diplomatic game.
  • In this five-part series "Left Here", get to know the Ukrainians who went into exile in France, early after the beginning of the conflict and who were able to continue their lives, their profession or sometimes encountered the difficulties of everyday life.
  • In Lille, the municipality has organized the reception of several hundred refugees, especially from Kharkiv, twin of the capital of Flanders for forty-five years. Among them are a hundred students who, for the most part, returned to university in France after their arrival. Meeting with students Anastasiia, Diana, Svitlana and Hanna who agreed to tell their stories from Ukraine to 20 Minutes.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many Ukrainians have had to flee the fighting to seek refuge in Europe. Throughout the France, many refugees have been welcomed, including in Lille, in the north. The town hall, associations and residents of Lille have mobilized to accommodate the refugees in volunteer families. Today, there are about 700 Ukrainian nationals who live an almost normal life in Lille. Of all these refugees, a hundred are students. And despite the countless difficulties, they continue their studies in different institutions of the metropolis. Anastasiia, Diana, Svitlana and Hanna agreed to tell 20 Minutes about their journey.

"The trip lasted two days"

Anastasiia Padlevska, 19, from the town of Bila Tserkva, near Kiev, landed in France on March 10, 2022: "The journey lasted two days. First, I was in western Ukraine, in a border town near Moldova," she explains. Then, with relatives, she crossed the border before going to Romania. "From there, we were able to take a plane to Paris," the young woman continues.

Also 20-year-old Diana Kutsalo did not take the same route. "My sister, my mother and I came in France car," says the student from Kiev. A journey of more than 2,000 km through seven countries: "We left Ukraine on March 7 and spent a week in Poznan, Poland. On March 17, we arrived in Lille," she said, adding that she had crossed Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Svitlana Zhdanova and her sister Hanna, aged 26 and 21, left Kharkiv on 17 March. No plane or car for them: "We arrived in Lille on April 27, by bus, after living for a month in Poland, in Krakow, with a host family," says Svitlana.

"In Ukraine I was studying French philology but then I decided to try something completely different," Anastasia recalls. However, she did not necessarily consider entering university in France: "Many factors changed my mind. Today, I am a first-year student in organizational communication at the IUT of Lille. »

"The war forced me to come earlier"

Housed for a time by her godmother, the student now rents her own apartment after some administrative setbacks: "If we talk about difficulties, like every national of a foreign country there are many problems with the establishment of documents, the search for housing," she confides. Diana, she had planned to come to France anyway: "I study in L3 International Economics & Business at the Catholic University of Lille. I had planned to go to France for a master's degree, but the war forced me to come earlier. And, in addition to her classes at Catho, Diana is completing her fourth year in "Economic Cybernetics" in Ukraine.

Like Anastasiia, Diana points to the "problems with bureaucracy" in France. For housing, on the other hand, it was fine: "I first lived with my family in an apartment provided by my mother's company. Now I live in the university residence." Kharkiv's two sisters, Svitlana and Hanna, are learning French: "We both take French courses for foreigners at the University of Lille. Without knowledge of the language it is not possible to find a job and enter university," admits Svitlana. Once they have mastered the language, they have "the desire and intention to study in France". And they are doing well, after only four months with a host family, Svitlana and Hanna now have their own apartment.

"I feel sadness and anxiety"

"Thinking about Ukraine I feel sadness and anxiety," sighs Anastasiia. She says she has "hatred" towards Russians: "They took away an opportunity to live quietly in Ukraine and prevented me from seeing my family for almost a year. I don't know when I'll see her again. And her future, the young woman struggles to consider: "It is difficult to make plans for the future. We don't know when the war will end," she said. In the meantime, she will continue her studies in France: "If there is an opportunity to return to Ukraine, I will do it."

Diana also feels "sadness" thinking about her country and her family. "There is also an element of despair, because we can in no way influence or change the situation in our country," she laments. She also hopes to return to Ukraine, but after her studies: "I would like to integrate the master's degree in Data and Artificial Intelligence in Lille".

OUR DOSSIER ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE

Svitlana and her sister Hanna are more melancholic: "The sensations are very strange, most of the time we think it's a dream," admits Svitlana. "Kharkiv is a very beautiful city with a unique atmosphere. We miss a lot of things, the life that people led to it, she continues. We want to see our younger brother, our mother and embrace them. Walking around our favorite shopping mall, getting out of town by bike, going to the cinema. »

  • War in Ukraine
  • Russia
  • War
  • World
  • Lille
  • Hauts-de-France
  • Student
  • Exile
  • Refugees
  • Vladimir Poutine
  • Volodymyr Zelensky