Ukrainians line up outside an ATM in Lviv, western Ukraine. (Credit: Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP)
BEIRUT — Many Lebanese students living in Ukrainian’s villages are seeking to move to the country’s cities following the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a representative for Lebanese students in Ukraine told L’Orient-Le Jour on Thursday.
“We all thought that Ukraine is a safe country, a country of joy and culture,” said Walid Khodr, a Lebanese citizen who has been living in Poltava in central Ukraine since 2013 to continue his studies.
On Thursday morning, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, by land, air and sea, in the biggest attack by a European country on another since World War II.
Within minutes of Putin’s televised speech announcing the invasion early morning Thursday Ukrainian time, explosions from artillery rockets lit up the night sky.
During the Russian operation, Khodr’s city's airport was attacked. “It happened at 8 a.m. while I was sleeping, my friends heard the strikes but not me,” he said.
Khodr also explained that for many of his friends, it feels impossible that war could break out between Russia and Ukraine, despite the rise in tensions in recent months.
“On Wednesday, everything looked normal, but today, supermarkets and pharmacies are taken by storm by the population. Everyone is preparing, even if we have no idea what may happen,” said the 29-year-old.
Since Thursday morning, his phone hasn't stopped ringing. At the other end of the line, students ask him what they should do.
Some students are studying in isolated places, and Khodr says, “we are trying to bring them to the cities.”
“A Lebanese citizen called me; he doesn't know anyone where he lives and doesn't speak the language,” he continues.
Khodr, who also owns a business in Ukraine, hopes that the embassy will succeed in bringing together the students so that they can leave the country as soon as possible.
“I don't think those who have lived there for years will leave the country,” he said, adding however that he has not returned to Lebanon for five years, due to Lebanon’s tough situation.
“I fled Lebanon, but if the situation gets worse in Ukraine, I will have no choice but to go back,” he said.
This article was originally published in French in L’Orient-Le Jour.
