Nightmare on a day of joy

For weeks, Mehedi Hasan Mohon and Tania Khatun had been planning to make the first birthday of their only daughter a memorable one. The couple bought a pair of diamond stud earrings for her and were about to throw a party at their home in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The child, Lilia Sizda, turned one yesterday, but the day which was supposed to be of celebrations morphed into a struggle to survive.

"We've been in this car, so close to each other, for around 30 hours. We're fleeing the war, we're fleeing for our lives," Mohon told The Daily Star as they approached the Poland border near Kovel yesterday afternoon.

"We've left everything behind, we couldn't even take the earrings …," he said.

The family left their home in the Ukraine capital after Russian forces launched a military assault which prompted thousands of people to scramble towards the borders with neighbouring countries.

In a blue France-made Logan car, Mohon started off along with six others -- his wife Tania, Lilia, and his friend Abdul Awal, Awal's wife and two children -- and drove for around 900 kilometres. They stopped only to refuel and use the washroom.

The streets were largely deserted and no restaurant could be found open on the way.

Before leaving home, they took a few suitcases and packed them with clothes and packets of dry foods, but the food was running out fast.

"It's been a dreadful journey. We started for the Poland border around 2:00pm on Thursday [Ukraine time] and are still six kilometres off the border. We've been stuck in the same place for the last four hours. The traffic is terrible here," Mohon told this correspondent on FaceTime.

He sent two pictures showing vehicles in long queues. "It may take another four to five hours to cross the border," he said.

Mohan, who is from Jashore, was also facing trouble in using the internet. He lost the connection several times while talking to this newspaper. At one point, he started sending voice messages.

"It's good news that we're close to the border and are apparently safe now. We've heard Poland is allowing in people with passports and vehicle documents." 

Asked whether they will try to come to Bangladesh later, he said, "Honestly, [I] don't know what we will do. We need to go to Poland first. We desperately want the war to stop."

His friend Abdul Awal said, "Although we lost all our belongings, we're happy that we have survived."

Asked where will they stay in Poland, he said, "We'll decide that once we reach there."

Asked whether any other Bangladeshis were joining them, he said, "We're yet to hear about anyone crossing the border right now. Some 10 to 12 people have contacted us over phone and said they were on their way to the border. The journey might take around 20 hours." 

Although some Bangladeshis like Mohon and Awal left Kyiv, many others stayed back.

The Daily Star talked to three such Bangladeshis.

Faruk Ahmed is one of them.

The 58-year-old along with his family members had been taking shelter in the basement of a kindergarten school for 30 hours. The basement was around 430 square feet and some 80 people, including some Bangladeshis, were hiding there.

"We only have tea and cookies to eat. We don't know how long we will have to stay here," he told The Daily Star over phone.

"Every moment is filled with the fear of death. Every time we hear an explosion, we feel we have survived this time. Kids keep screaming... It's very difficult to hold back tears. We all are waiting for airstrikes to end."