Ukraine Woman Breaks Down, Tells NDTV "Our Husbands Left To Join War"

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted the lives of millions of people in the east European nation. Thousands have left their homes. NDTV spoke with some families who have taken shelter at a parish in western Ukraine's Lviv. They came from Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was attacked by Russian forces.

Those who have taken shelter here include pregnant women and children. They are extremely scared of what might happen as the war drags on.

"We heard air raid sirens every hour. We were hiding in a bunker and heard explosions outside. We were really afraid," Tatiana, a woman at the parish in western Ukraine's Lviv, told NDTV.

"We want to stay in Lviv. We hope the war ends soon," said another woman, Nadia. Her baby cries on her lap as she is speaking. She, too, breaks down.

She continued, "Children are really scared. Our husbands left to join the war, to protect women and children...Our beautiful cities are destroyed. Children see it and are stressed. They don't know what happened," Nadia told NDTV.

Ukraine had been preparing and training its citizens, mostly young men, to resist the Russian advance long before the invasion started on February 24.

"Our husbands didn't go for territorial defence because they are helping the army with supplies like food. It's nice to see all Ukrainians are united today and it is inspiring," Tatiana said in the room where warm sheets have been put on the floor for people to sleep amid the biting cold outside.

Father Gregory of John Paul II Roman Catholic parish on the outskirts of Lviv, where the women are staying, said some 150 people came for shelter on Day 1 of the invasion. "About 300 came on the second day. They stayed for two days and left for Poland," he told NDTV, adding the people told him they would feel safe only outside Ukraine.

People have slept on train tracks out in the extreme cold as the bombings didn't stop, Father Gregory said. "There are 60 children in the parish," he said, adding they are traumatised after seeing the war and possibly deaths on their way to the shelter.

Ukraine today rejected Moscow's offer of humanitarian corridors to Russia and Belarus, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. "This is not an acceptable option," she said, after Russia proposed safe passage for civilians from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Sumy.

The civilians "aren't going to go to Belarus and then take a plane to Russia". The Russian army said earlier on Monday it was opening humanitarian corridors from the four Ukrainian cities.