Ukraine war: The horror in Poland was so great – "I woke up in a new reality"

Created: 02/28/2022, 16:01

By: Aleksandra Fedorska

Demonstrators wave Ukrainian flags outside the Russian embassy during a demonstration against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

© Radek Pietruszka/dpa

In Poland, too, people are shocked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Our correspondent Aleksandra Fedorska reports on site.

Kyiv/Warsaw - The fear, the front, the dead and the disinformation.

The Ukrainians have known all this for years.

The war has been present in Ukraine since 2014.

But the invasion changes the situation decisively.

Neighboring Poland was also shocked by the Russian attack.

I've had a lot of talks in Warsaw and Poznań over the past few days.

In this text I would like to report on these encounters - and write about what is on the minds of the people in Poland in this exceptional situation.

Because one thing is certain: Eastern Europe is in total tension.

"My hands are shaking, tears are flowing, I can't breathe and my brain is exploding right now....couldn't sleep.

Why is this so disturbing?

I opened my feed... I'm scared.

I woke up to a new reality... It's happening...,” writes young Ukrainian Maria Andruchiw early in the morning of February 24 in Poznań, Poland*.

It is the city where the young woman studied and where her successful professional life has now begun.

Her family lives in western Ukraine.

Parents, two sisters and spouses all want to stay in Ukraine.

Escape is not an option for them.

Until Tuesday morning, Maria thought her family was safe in the west of the country.

But now the impacts are getting closer.

Ukraine War: Emotional Reactions from Poland – “The World We Known Until Now Only Belongs to the Past”

In Warsaw, the day starts very early for journalists.

Also for Wojciech Jakóbik, editor-in-chief of the Polish online portal for energy industry

In the quiet of the morning, he usually enjoys writing the one important comment of the day.

Already the day before February 24, he kept checking his cell phone.

The invasion had been in the air for days, weeks actually.

And for months, Jakóbik has been emphasizing in his texts, media appearances and countless conversations that keeping calm, sticking together and sanctions are the right way.

So when Jakóbik wakes up on February 24, he is certain that he will hoist the Ukrainian flag on the balcony of the

editorial office.

It is now blowing over the skyscrapers of the Polish capital.

In the background is the building of the Palace of Culture and Sciences.

It was built between 1952 and 1955 by order of Joseph Stalin - so that Poland will not forget who was in power in this country from 1945 to 1989.

We haven't experienced a situation like this in Europe since the end of the Second World War, which is why the world we used to know is a thing of the past.

Bartosz Garczyński, Radio Poznań

Radio Poznań's editor Bartosz Garczyński is not an early riser.

And usually the long-haired tea drinker is calm personified.

Anyone who hears his deep voice can actually sense how well-balanced the journalist is.

But not on this morning when war broke out.

"Despite many signals, I believed to the end that Russia would not attack Ukraine, but unfortunately, as we know, things turned out differently.

We haven't experienced a situation like this in Europe since the end of World War II, which is why the world we used to know is a thing of the past," Garczyński tells me - reflecting the current mood of most Poles.

Ukraine crisis: People in neighboring Poland are shocked and are organizing protests

I also meet Iaroslav.

On February 24, his journey will take him to the Warsaw metro station Centrum.

He's standing there with his piece of paper with #stopPutinNOW written on it, protesting the Ukraine war.

Like millions of people from Ukraine and Belarus, he has been living in Poland since 2012.

"We'll hold out as long as the West helps us, with weapons and politics.

Nord Stream has to be over for good,” he says when asked what we in the West can do for Ukraine.

His brown eyes are full of power and zest for action.

There is so much vibrancy in them even when they get shiny with fear and sadness.

Ukraine will fight to the end, says not only Iaroslav, but many other Ukrainians on February 24, 2022.

The young woman from Poznań, Maria, organizes the protest in front of the Russian consulate that same evening.

The crowd is big.

There are protests not only in Poznań, but in all major Polish cities.

Sleeping places for refugees from Ukraine are offered on social media.

Here a couch, there a small room, warm jackets for the children, the list of entries is endless.

That's very important, Maria agrees.

Millions of people will flee from Ukraine to Poland.

Germany could also help logistically here.

Germany could also provide more information across Europe and worldwide.

It's so important in this war, which is also an information war.

Our task is not to be paralyzed by fear, to maintain a healthy level of criticism and to agree on the sanctions.

The task of the free world.

Ukraine needs us so much now.