“One day, they came and pulled me out of the basement. 4 hefty guys, well-armed, positioned me in front of the house with rifles and began interrogating me.”
That day marked the beginning of Tetiana’s long and perilous journey to safety. After spending months in her home village under the control of the Russian army, she was forced to flee to protect herself and her son.
They had to get through 29 checkpoints and 700 kilometres on the road, sometimes in pitch-black darkness, to reach safety in the government-held areas.
Hearing stories like this is a familiar scenario in Ukraine. While it is commonly thought that war is a matter for men, women often bear a burden no less challenging, experiencing all the hardships that come with it.
Ukrainian women are a testament to this reality. In the wake of an almost 2-year-long full-scale war, they are reconstructing homes, often with their bare hands. They are enduring life-threatening interrogations and assisting other women in bringing new life into the world under shelling and bombardments.
The list of their remarkable deeds goes on and on. The EU and its partners, including Acted, Danish Red Cross, IOM, People in Need, and UNFPA are helping them in their struggles by providing cash assistance, safe shelters, food, and medical supplies, among others.
