Ukrainian TV presenter leads city centre protest
NOW A REFUGEE IN NORTHUMBERLAND DUE TO INVASION
A UKRAINIAN TV presenter has shared the moving story of how she has become a refugee in Northumberland following the Russian invasion.
Alex Fil organised a peaceful protest in Newcastle city centre to raise awareness of the plight of the Ukrainian people and to call on world leaders to help safely evacuate those trapped in the city of Mariupol.
The 23-year-old journalist was forced to flee her home in eastern Ukraine following the outbreak of war and is currently staying with a host family in Longhoughton along with her parents and sister.
She said: “When I woke up on the morning of February [24] and understood that war had started in my country, I couldn't believe it because it is something unreal in the 21st century.
“I called my parents and said we need to go to the west of Ukraine because the war has started in the east of Ukraine.
“But after an hour I understood that war had started in every part of Ukraine, that the Russians were bombing every city.
“I understood that we needed to go to Europe.
“I have a little sister who is 12 and a dog, and my mum has problems with her heart and I thought it was very dangerous for us to stay in Ukraine.
“We came to Europe and then to the UK. At first, we thought we would come for one week and the war would be finished and we could go home.
“After that, we thought that we will be back in one month, but now we don't know when we can go home.
“Today's protest is a peaceful protest to save the people in Mariupol,” she said.
Yesterday afternoon Ukraine's deputy prime minister confirmed all women, children and older adults had been evacuated from the Mariupol steel mill long besieged by Russian force.
“The president's order has been carried out, all women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal,” Iryna Veheshchuk said.
“This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”
She did not elaborate. The Russian news agency Tass had reported another 50 evacuated from the plant yesterday.
Evacuating civilians from the plant them has drawn the world's attention, with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross trying to organise departures.
The latest evacuees followed roughly 500 others who were allowed to leave the plant and other parts of the city in recent days.
In recent days, fighters inside the plant had described bringing out small groups of civilians who had been hiding for weeks.
The fighters issued a statement via social media saying both they and the Russians have used a white flag system to halt fighting in order to get civilians out. But Russian forces have intensified fire on the steel mill in recent days with mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from the sea, making evacuation operations difficult.
It remains unclear what will happen to the Ukrainian fighters there, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded.
In recent days the Ukrainian government has been approaching a variety of international organisations to try to guarantee them safe passage.
The escape of the civilians puts new pressure on Ukraine to find a way out for the fighters, who have vowed not to surrender.
Already Russian forces had probed the plant and even reached into its warren of tunnels, according to Ukrainian officials.