A Ukrainian woman who tore herself away from the ‘love of her life’ to save their one-year-old from Russian bombs has found safety in Poland – but says she has ‘left her heart behind’.
Angelina Matvevea, 25, spent two weeks sheltering in a damp basement with husband Andrew, 36, and daughter Olivia when Vladimir Putin launched his onslaught.stormed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear PlantThe mum is one of countless refugees to leave their partners behind as most men aged 18 to 60 are banned from leaving the country.
After welcoming Olivia in 2020, the young family lived a ‘normal’ life together until they woke on February 24 to the words‘It was a terrible feeling’, Angelina said. ‘What will life look like now? We watched our neighbours take their children and animals, pack everything into their cars and drive away.
For the next 12 nights, they lay listening to explosions overhead as they slept alongside 40 strangers in the basement of their flat.‘But it was a bit easier because there were other people. We weren’t alone. We had food, but as the days passed we had to start saving portions.’The mum and daughter fled with Angelina’s mum Natalia, 44, aunt Julia, 41, and her daughter Lisa, 13.
‘I travelled with Olivia and our dog, my mother, my aunt and my sister. We left everything behind – our home, our jobs, our husbands’, Angelina said. ‘I breathed a massive sigh of relief when we reached the border. But I felt scared. ‘I was thinking “How will I live here? I’m alone with a child. Who will take me in? I don’t have enough money to pay rent”’
‘He treats her almost like a sister, although he won’t admit that. He keeps asking me “Why is this not a boy?”
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