A boy from Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, where Europe's largest nuclear power plant burned down during a Russian bombardment, has become one of the latest symbols of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country following the Russian invasion recently. One week.
The 11-year-old minor was found by the authorities of Slovakia, Ukraine's neighboring country, after having crossed the border unaccompanied.
The minor's mother, Yulia Volodymyrivna Pisecka, explained to the media this Sunday that she was a widow, mother of other children, who had to take care of her elderly mother, who can no longer move on her own.
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An 11-year-old boy who crossed Ukraine's border with Slovakia just to escape the Russian invasion, on March 6, 2022. Slovak Ministry of Internal Affairs
"I am grateful that you have saved my son's life," Pisecka said in a message to the Slovak authorities.
"There is a nuclear power plant next to my city, which the (Russian) occupants are shooting at. It was on fire. I can't leave my mother, she can't move independently, so I sent my son alone on a train to the border with Slovakia," he added.
Slovak authorities, who described the boy as "a true hero", said he had won everyone over "with his smile, his bravery and determination".
“He came completely alone because his parents had to stay in Ukraine
.
The volunteers took care of him, took him to a warm place and offered him water and food," the Slovak Ministry of the Interior reported.
The map and figures of Ukrainian refugees in neighboring countries after the Russian invasion
March 6, 202200:21
"Your little country [Slovakia] has people with big hearts. Please save our Ukrainian children and give them a safe haven," Pisecka said.
The United Nations refugee commissioner estimates that around 1.5 million people have fled the country amid fighting with Russian forces, almost all of them women and children.
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Under martial law, which was introduced by the Ukrainian government on February 24, all men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country unless they have three or more children or work in certain sectors strategic to the war effort. such as importing weapons.
This is the arrival at the Polish border of the thousands of Ukrainian families separated by the war with Russia
March 7, 202201:52
Most of the Ukrainian refugees have gone to Poland, more than 53% according to UN figures.
While others have gone to the neighboring countries of Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova.