Close to a million refugees have returned home to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country, United Nations said this week, with an estimated 30,000 people crossing the border back into Ukraine each day.
The reverse flow is despite a warning by Ukrainian authorities that it is not yet safe to return and there are preparations for a major Russian assault ahead.
"Right now I know that a lot of people started asking, can they go back to Ukraine. Some people decided to leave and go back," said Elina (33), a Ukrainian refugee in Germany.
Elina herself checks the air raid alert app for Kyiv daily to see if, were she to return, she would still have to spend most of the day hiding in her apartment’s bathroom. That was day-to-day life before she escaped on a densely packed 15-hour evacuation train earlier in the war.
She, like many Ukrainians, has her eye on May 9th: Victory Day. Russia traditionally marks the defeat of Nazi Germany with large military parades on the symbolically important date, and Ukrainians anticipate Moscow may attempt to achieve something that can be sold as a victory by then.
“I have these nerves inside of me, I have this fear. For the time being I’m not ready to go back,” Elina said.
The number of returned people had reached 870,000 by Tuesday this week, according to figures collected by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. While at the start of the invasion incoming people were mostly men returning to fight, now older people and women with children have started to make the journey.
Lack of space
The UN has warned it could risk a worsening humanitarian situation within the country. Some 7.1 million people have been displaced within Ukraine since the start of the invasion, many piling into cities and villages further from the front line. Families are sleeping in school gyms and other public buildings. Many who would prefer to stay end up forced to leave the country due to the lack of space.
"It's getting harder and harder. People who have families then feel like they have to move on and go to Poland or Romania or different countries. And Poland is overflowing right now as well," said a Ukrainian refugee in Belgium, who could not give her name due to the sensitivity of her job.
The refugee, who has been helping to find accommodation for others in the EU, said most wanted to remain in the country if possible and, if not, to stay in neighbouring countries with the aim of returning soon.
Less than a third of the employees of the large organisation she works for chose to leave Ukraine despite having the choice, she said. Habituated to war due to the fighting in Ukraine’s east ongoing with Russian forces since 2014, many prefer to stay as long as they can.
“People don’t want to leave their husbands. When you think about Ukrainian families, all the people that you meet, they all left behind their husbands, fathers, brothers,” she said.
Almost 4.8 million people have fled Ukraine in the 50 days since the invasion began on February 24th, according to the UN, of which 2.7 million are in Poland, 727,000 Romania, and 447,000 in Hungary.
Protection rights
Ukrainian refugees have 90 days to register with authorities to gain temporary protection rights. For those who fled at the outbreak of the war, the deadline is approaching, and there have been reports of bureaucratic hurdles in Belgium, Germany and Italy.
When Elina first arrived in Hamburg the queue for the reception centre was three to four days long, so she avoided it until an online system was established.
Remote working has allowed some Ukrainians to take jobs with them. Initiatives to offer room in homes to refugees are prevalent across the EU and positively received by Ukrainians, though not always seamless, as overcrowding can wear down everyone involved, and there can be safety concerns.
Language barriers can be a challenge. Elina relied on the German-speaking friend she is staying with to ultimately register online. But she is daunted by the bureaucracy she would face to get a job beyond her current volunteer work, or a flat of her own. “I couldn’t do it myself, probably,” Elina said. “I don’t know German, unfortunately, and that is why I can’t do anything.”
