Credit: Ali SAHIB
Chronicle.lu was recently granted access to the Ukrainescht Haus in Strassen where the municipality has created an activity centre for refugees from the war in Ukraine that are living in and around the town.
The centre provides language courses (primarily French), orientation services for families before their children start attending school, and also various organised activities, both indoor and outdoor.
47 year-old Yuri is now working there; he arrived in Luxembourg after staying in Poland for a week. Fleeing from Ukraine was challenging for his and family. Yuri is a university professor who, with his wife, has three children. He admitted that it had been very difficult for his children in Ukraine; on the first day of the war, on 24 February, they woke up to the sound of bombing.
A friend from Poland called him and encouraged them to travel across the border. That same day they packed what they could into their car and drove as far as the border with Poland; when they got there, the Ukraine military stopped them and told him that, as he was under 65, he could not leave. So his wife took the car keys and drove the children across the border to safety.
Yuri travelled back home; a couple of days later, a friend told him that he could leave after all as the government had announced that all men with three or more children could leave. He returned to the Polish border and was allowed to pass through it this time. He met up with his wife and children, staying with their friend for a week and then left for Luxembourg. His eldest son stayed behind in Poland as he is studying there to become a chef, and he also helps Ukrainian refugees.
Yuri and his family are now settling into life in Luxembourg.
