Elephant News reporter Zhao Dan/Wen Photo courtesy of the interviewee
"The information has been registered online, and the important luggage has been packed overnight, and I can go with the Chinese Embassy at any time." At 11:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 25 and 5:00 a.m. Ukrainian time, Huang, a student in Kiev, Ukraine, replied to the Elephant News reporter, "Just now there were two explosions outside, and we don't dare to make a sound or turn on the lights now." ”
In the early morning of the 25th, the news that the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine had chartered a plane to return Chinese citizens in Ukraine touched people's hearts. At this time, it was less than 48 hours before the outbreak of local war between Russia and Ukraine in the early morning of the 24th. This oil-rich European country has undergone great changes, with the sound of gunfire, the mighty rush of vehicles out of the city, the long lines of pharmacies and banks...
Not only Huang, but also many ordinary Chinese in Wu have become witnesses and witnesses.
Sun Guang, a nearly 40-year-old Ukrainian overseas Chinese, thinks that he is a psychologically strong person, and when he hears the sound of gunfire and sees the fighter jets passing over the window, he still can't help but jump in his heart, and he calmly goes to comfort his family first; The girlfriend of Xiao Chen, a 22-year-old Ukrainian international student, is a local, and he was evacuated into the air raid shelter and still did not forget to send a message to comfort him, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." ”
But war has come.
01
There is a curfew in place, and international students have registered for charter flights to return home
Huang, who studied in Kiev, Ukraine, is a native of Jiangsu. In the 48 hours before the Russo-Ukrainian war, he and his friends around him hardly rested, and in an interview with Elephant News in the early morning of the 25th, he said, "There is a curfew outside, we dare not run around, and we are still at home." ”
He and his classmates always pay attention to the news of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine. In the early morning of the 25th, the news that the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine had chartered a plane to return Chinese citizens in Ukraine touched people's hearts. Charter flights are voluntary. The time of the charter dispatch is determined according to the flight safety situation and will be notified in advance. Registration is open until Sunday, February 27 at 12:00 local time.
"The embassy has asked us to fill in the information such as our current address in Ukraine online so that we can arrange for us to return to China in the future, but the specific time has not yet been notified to us." Huang said, "Important luggage, we have packed it overnight." ”
Also of great concern is the suspected leak of Chernobyl.
Huang learned that people in Kiev try to avoid using tap water. There are also various news that makes people feel uneasy, "The local area is also spreading wildly, and at 3 o'clock in Ukraine time, the Russian side may launch air strikes." The accuracy of the information has yet to be verified, but now everyone is at risk. ”
His plan was that, if possible, he and his roommate would take refuge with Chinese students at nearby schools.
Huang still remembers the moment when the explosion came. In the early morning of February 24, local time, he was awakened in his sleep, and in the morning the school told them to listen to classes at home and not to go to school. Some friends also called the embassy, and the staff reminded them to protect their own safety. After that, "the air defense sirens sounded and the local people drove west." The way out of the city has been blocked, there is no way out of the city. Some locals will transfer to the subway station, which in Ukraine is equivalent to an air raid shelter. ”
Thinking about it, Huang still felt relatively safe at home. Fortunately, he had already purchased some food in advance, enough to eat for half a month.
A foreign country suddenly encountered a war, and his current plan was to wait, ready to return to China at any time according to the embassy's arrangements.
02
At the moment when the accident came, he forced himself to calm down and go to comfort his family first
After the explosion in the early morning, Sun Guang, an overseas Chinese who has lived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine for many years, reacted first by strengthening his composure to appease his family. When he opened a live broadcast to repeat this detail a few hours after the incident, he still seemed to have a lingering feeling, and fell silent for a short pause.
Born in Beijing, Sun Guang, who is nearly 40 years old this year, met his current Ukrainian wife after studying in Kiev, Ukraine in 2002, and has been living in Ukraine for 20 years, mainly doing business.
In recent days, he has continued to introduce the current situation in Ukraine through his personal video number, taking to the streets to shoot videos and recording the real voices of Ukrainian residents. Before the 24th local time, Sun Guang saw Kiev as usual, although the news about the evacuation of diplomats from Kiev continued, but everything was in order on the bustling commercial street in the city center. He and his friends are always on the lookout for changes in the situation in Ukraine in order to respond to emergencies in a timely manner.
Everything changed dramatically on the 24th. The news that Russian troops have landed in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa has brought the world's attention to this place.
Sun Guang was woken up by various phone calls and messages at more than 5 a.m., the network was normal, and he uploaded the video in a heavy tone, "The situation is very bad." I didn't expect that Ukraine would be attacked by Russia while everyone was asleep. At the moment when the explosion sounded, he still couldn't help but be frightened when he thought he was mentally strong, and first went to comfort his family.
At more than 1 p.m. on the same day, Sun Guang uploaded a video at home and introduced, "15 minutes ago, I heard an explosion again, and I don't know where it is." Five minutes ago, several fighter jets jumped overhead. Standing by the window of his home, he could see the fighter jets above.
At 4 p.m., Sun Guang drove to a larger supermarket, with abundant shelves and low music, but customers could be seen to be very rare. He learned that many residents were hoarding goods nearby, resulting in long queues of supermarkets in the community. "An hour and a half ago, one of the districts of Kiev sounded an air defense siren. There are small areas of fighting around Kiev. Sun Guang introduced what he learned while visiting the supermarket, not forgetting to comfort his compatriots, "Don't worry, believe in your eyes and ears." ”
03
Ukrainian girlfriend hid in a bomb shelter, comforting him that "everything will be fine"
Xiao Chen, a 22-year-old Ukrainian international student, described the first day of the war as "everything came very suddenly."
Xiao Chen, a native of Hunan, is now studying abroad in Dnipro, Ukraine. The city is some distance from Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and is the third largest city in Ukraine according to official sources. Xiao Chen studied fine arts in the local preparatory department and prepared to study the history of oil painting at Dnipro National University. He has a beautiful Ukrainian girlfriend.
At more than 4:00 a.m. Ukrainian time on February 24, Xiao Chen woke up, watched the anime, and was awakened by the explosion after falling asleep again. It was pitch black outside, and his first reaction was whether it was thundering and raining, and he fell into a deep sleep. At seven or eight o'clock in the morning, Xiao Chen was woken up by a friend's phone and asked him if he heard the explosion, and then various messages came out of the mobile phone, and the international student group was bustling.
Xiao Chen quickly looked through his girlfriend's message. His beautiful girlfriend is a local Ukrainian and now works in a hotel. His girlfriend told him that she was at work at the time of the explosion and had been evacuated to an air raid shelter, hesitating to take a two-hour bus home. The two talked about the explosion, and his girlfriend did not forget to comfort him, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." ”
Domestic relatives and friends continue to send messages to Xiao Chen to express concern, and his mother repeatedly advises him to report safety at any time.
Xiao Chen did not attend class that day, the school teacher issued a safety reminder in the group, and the embassy has been reminding Chinese citizens in recent days to pay attention to the situation in Russia and Ukraine, and try to stay at home and not go out. At about 12 noon, Xiao Chen and his classmates who rented an apartment together took to the street to buy. They used video to document the city's changes hours after the explosion: long lines lined up at the entrances of pharmacies and banks, shelves of bread, macaroni and sugar in the store were empty, all stalls in a nearby market were closed, many people walked toward the station and there were more police officers at the scene to maintain order.
Everything in front of him told Xiao Chen that the war had brought about changes. Even the day before, people should have gone to class, they should have gone to work. Messages poured out of mobile phones, Russia launched a special military operation in the Donbass region, and the whole territory of Ukraine entered a wartime state. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy announced ukraine's decision to sever diplomatic relations with Russia. Kiev Airport is overcrowded...
"The war came too suddenly." Xiao Chen couldn't help but sigh too much, and quickly bought several bags of rice and drinking water, vegetables, and meat with his roommate and returned to the apartment. At 1 p.m., the girlfriend told Xiao Chen that she would not go to work and decided to go back to her hometown and not let her family worry. The two men hurriedly said goodbye at the station.
Are you going or staying? What are you going to do? Xiao Chen's idea was to keep in close touch with the international students, to go or stay, and to follow the arrangements of the Chinese Embassy.
04
"My circle of friends is full of voices of 'May world peace'"
The situation between Russia and Ukraine has focused the eyes of the whole world on this place, and people living outside Ukraine have the illusion that time and space have suddenly torn apart.
"In my lifetime, I never wanted to witness a war." On the afternoon of the 24th, Li Xue, who lives in Sichuan, updated the social dynamics, and the few numbers resonated. Li Xue, a post-90s generation, did not pay much attention to the situation in Russia and Ukraine before, felt that "the war is very far away, it is impossible to fight", and even did not understand why Russia and Ukraine have become the current situation. When she brushed a series of related messages from the circle of friends, she was shocked at first, began a heated discussion with her colleagues, and then fell into a long silence. "At that time, when I saw the panicked pictures of people on the news, I found it difficult to accept. My circle of friends is full of voices of 'May world peace'. Li Xue said.
Xiao Zhou in Zhejiang is a new media practitioner who receives information faster than his friends. "I don't know, I don't know how to describe the various tastes at that moment." He summed up the mood of seeing the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine at that time, and then subconsciously brushed various platforms, quickly "scratched" and passed, until the eyes stayed on a picture - after the explosion in Kiev, many Ukrainians wore masks to take refuge in the subway, including a mother pushing a stroller. This picture instantly hit him as a new father.
Ms. Zhao from Zhengzhou, Henan, is a dentist. She said that while brushing up on the news of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the 24th, she felt the feeling of time and space suddenly tearing apart, and she couldn't help but think about what she wanted to do most when the accident came. "Maybe I'll desperately hold my child in my arms and snuggle up with my loved ones."
Mr. Zhou, a physical education teacher in Jilin in northeast China, is also full of emotions. He mentioned the just-concluded closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, where the IOC short film "The Power of Faith" was played. The final scene of the short film is a scene of Ukrainian athletes and Russian athletes hugging after the game. The two men, dressed in five-ring jerseys, hugged each other tightly after high-fives on the sidelines, and their faces were full of bright smiles.
"Even if your countries are opposed by conflict, you embrace each other." The hug mentioned in the speech of IOC President Bach refers to these two players.
Mr. Zhou remembers another sentence Bach said in his speech:
"You have given peace a chance."