Tens of thousands of Ukrainian teenagers eventually fled to neighboring Poland.
Gdansk:
Two years ago, Ukrainian teenagers, like their peers in other countries, were busy making friends, falling in love, and trying new things.
But plans and dreams were soon dashed by the Russian invasion that began on February 24, 2022, forcing many young people to flee their homes, friends and schools to build new lives in unfamiliar countries.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian teenagers ended up fleeing to neighboring Poland, some with their families and some not, along with millions more refugees to other European countries. A World Bank study shows that nearly 6 million Ukrainians remain displaced.
Two years have passed and many of them have started new lives. But some struggle with anxiety, anger and despair and feel a sense of instability as they consider the possibility of one day returning to Ukraine after the conflict ends.
The transition to adulthood can be a difficult journey, made even more difficult by the danger and destruction caused by war.
Marharyta Chykalova, who turned 17 in March, left her hometown of Kherson in southern Ukraine with her mother in April 2022, when Russian troops occupied the city and she was in the basement She slept for weeks fearing for her life.
They fled to Moldova, then Romania, and finally settled in the Polish city of Gdynia. She started learning Polish and tried to integrate into her new Polish school, but the first six months were difficult.
Chikalova said she stayed in touch with some of her closest friends at home, but still felt lonely. In December 2022, she received photos of her apartment in Kherson that had been destroyed by a bomb.
“I started crying, crying hard, because at that moment I understood that everything I had lost was gone. It was just gone, home was gone, there was nothing left,” she recalled, her eyes moistening .
To help cope with depression, the soft-spoken student enrolled in drama classes, which allowed her to express her emotions on stage and helped her make new friends.
“They say home is not where you live, but home is a place that makes you feel good, and I feel good on stage, with people close to me. This is my home.”
‘waiting room’
Some 165,000 Ukrainian teenagers aged 13 to 18 were registered as refugees in Poland, according to January figures from the foreigners’ office.
Some gathered at Blue Trainers, a community space in a shopping mall in Gdańsk, to play board games, billiards and table tennis. Most importantly, they maintain contact with their counterparts in Ukraine and Poland.
Dastin Suski, a psychologist and vice president of the Fossa Foundation, which specializes in mental health support, said the arrival of Ukrainian teenagers initially led to conflicts with Polish children.
Over time, as many Ukrainians learned to speak Polish, the feeling of alienation faded.
Participating in sports was a particularly popular way for young people to cope with the shock of war.
“Here they find a sports club where they can train and they start to build their teenage life, their young life, in Gdansk,” Suski said.
“But I think the hope of returning (to Ukraine) is growing in their minds. It’s a bit like being in the waiting room.”
Susky said that for many boys, the idea of fighting for Ukraine presented dilemmas that even adults would find difficult to resolve.
“Those people who turned 18, they started thinking about it (the war and the front), they talked to us about it. I think it became more intense once the war started.”
Under current law, Ukrainians can enlist in the army only if they are 27 years old, but many young people join the army voluntarily.
Andrii Nonka, 15, from Kharkov, arrived in Poland on her birthday, March 6, 2022, with her mother. His father remained in Ukraine. Occasionally, he would have a strong desire to go home and see his friends and father.
Joining a boxing club helped him find new friends, and he now increasingly sees Poland as an opportunity to find a good job, possibly in IT.
“I think I matured faster because of the war,” Nongka said. “At the moment, it’s hard to say where my home is. At the moment, my home is in Ukraine.”
Dariia Vynohradova, 17, also from Kharkiv, left her parents and said she did not want to go back.
“I don’t want to go back because Kharkov is too destroyed and there is nothing to go back to. I go back sometimes to visit my parents, but I want to stay here.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
