Ukrainian couple brings children to Catalonia and returns to home country to fight

Over 1,000,000 Ukrainians have left their country after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to figures released by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Two of them, however, are returning to their country to "help our army." 

Igor Reva and Solomiya Bratakh have been in Catalonia for only five days. They are both Ukrainians and on Friday they returned to the Eastern European country. Their children will stay with their grandparents in the seaside town of Calella, north of Barcelona. 

"It was necessary to save our children to return and help our army," Igor Reva said to the Catalan News Agency (ACN). He is a father to three children: two boys, a five-year-old and a seven-year-old, with Solomiya Bratakh, and a 16-year-old girl from a previous relationship. 

Reva’s intention was to remain in Ukraine but when accompanying his family to the Hungarian border he was allowed to leave the country because of his large family. 

"We will defend Ukraine so children know that they have a place to live in," Solomiya Bratakh added.

Hungarian or Polish border

Cross a border 80 kilometers away or go for another one 300 km away. This was one of the first decisions the family had to make when leaving their country. 

They lived in Velykiy Lubin, a small village on the outskirts of Lviv, in west Ukraine. The closest border is the Polish one, less than 100 kilometers away. However, the family decided to cross via Hungary, after a six-hour drive.

The main reason for choosing the Hungarian frontier was the huge collapse the nearest border suffered from traffic jams of up to 25 kilometers. 

The hours prior to the trip were really intense, similar to the ones of the first days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bratakh remembered. People started bulk buying basic necessities to survive "confinements" in metro stations and basements. 

"We woke up at six in the morning as they started bombing the whole country," Reva said while recalling hearing several explosions near their home as military warehouses were being attacked. "In the first two hours, we already had bought fuel, food, and medicines," he added. 

Europe, a new beginning 

The trip from the Hungarian border to Catalonia took three more days. Despite the situation back home, traveling through Europe felt different. 

Europeans showed their support to Reva and Bratakh’s family. "After seeing our car license plate, we were offered aid and messages of hope, in Germany, we were even accommodated for free at an apartment."

The family has been living in Calella since Monday afternoon, and since then their only hope is to return back home. "Hands are needed" in Ukraine to help volunteers with logistics and also to back the army, they argued. 

The first thing Igor Reva will do is sign up at the Ukrainian army, despite the lack of military equipment such as arms, helmets, and vests.  

"If we do not go back now, we will not have a place to return to," Reva said.

He believes the Ukrainian resistance will be able to hold Putin’s attack but if it is not the case, the Russian army "will not stop here." 

"Ukraine is Europe’s shield to Russia," he explained.