War in the neighbouring country

The desperation can be heard in Anna's voice. She tells the Lëtzebuerger Journal in voice messages about the situation on the ground. She is Ukrainian ─ her family is half Ukrainian, half Russian ─ and currently lives in Budapest. However, her mother, father, grandmother and dog are in Kyiv, a very stressful situation for the 27-year-old. "On February 24th at 6.00 am, my boyfriend woke me up saying I had to call my family because Russia had invaded Ukraine. I started reading the news to get an idea because it was really hard to believe, even though it was possible." She pauses, as if she still can't believe it. "My father called me and told me not to worry." She quotes her father's words, "We heard the sirens but are safe. I'm going to buy food and supplies. Don't worry about anything. And please, please don't come here with your sister". Like Anna in Budapest, her sister is also living abroad at the moment ─ currently in Berlin.

She’s in Hungary, her family in the Ukraine

Initially, their parents moved into a private house with a basement because it was supposed to be safer, but a short time later a Russian projectile fell on one of the houses nearby. "They returned to our flat and now sleep on the floor to be able to react immediately just in case." Her mother had suffered a panic attack a few days before we spoke, she said, because no one knows what to do next. After considering separating ─ Anna's father was to stay in Kyiv, mother, grandmother and dog could have left the country by train or car – they threw those plans overboard. "I don't think my parents will leave the country. I don't know how bad the situation has to get before they do, but they believe in our army and our people."

Anna, who studies international relations, wrote her thesis on the Minsk Agreement and has been following the situation for years, feels helpless. "I wake up every morning around 3.00 or 4.00 a.m., check in with my parents and read the news. The first two days were the worst. I slept for two to three hours, if at all." She is on her smartphone or laptop for most of the day, she says, and tries to help as much as she can ─ not just her parents. "I share reliable information every day, I translate news into different languages and try to help people and connect them with others." As a Ukrainian abroad, she feels a kind of guilt. "It is hard to shake this feeling. I feel helpless, as I think many others do. I feel like I'm not doing enough."