Thoughts of going home

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It:

Ukrainians consider what’s next.

Since the war started, nearly 7 million men, women, and children have left Ukraine, and nearly 1 million have sought refuge in nearby Poland. With conversations about ending the war in progress, what do these displaced Ukrainians have to say?

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Will Fleeson is a Correspondent for WORLD, reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Will, good morning.

WILL FLEESON: Good morning, Mary.

REICHARD: Will, tell us a bit about what the mood over there is right now...coming off of security meetings in Munich and Paris. What are you hearing?

FLEESON: So what I'm hearing, Mary, is these events in Paris and Munich are notable for kind of what they did not accomplish and what they did not discuss. J.D. Vance was in Munich and spent more time talking about the far right parties of Europe than Ukraine itself. Likewise, in Paris, there was a hastily convened meeting under the direction of French president Emmanuel Macron, which has not accomplished much so far, the results seem to be inconclusive in terms of reporting on what we're seeing now. So many more questions than answers at this point.

REICHARD: So up next are talks in Saudi Arabia…between Russia and the U.S. How are Ukrainians you’ve spoken with feeling about that?

FLEESON: They're feeling similarly unclear about that. Mary, the U.S., Russia talks will be happening in Saudi Arabia a day after President Zelensky of Ukraine will get to Saudi Arabia himself. Those efforts on the one side between the US and Russia and Ukraine's efforts on the other are entirely separate at this point.

REICHARD: We look forward to hearing more from Ukraine in the coming weeks. Thanks Will!

FLEESON: Thank you Mary.

REICHARD: Will recently spoke with Ukrainians living in Poland about what might be next for them. WORLD's Executive Producer Paul Butler has the story.

SOUND: KIDS CHATTERING.

PAUL BUTLER: Classes are over for the day for children studying at the Polish Center for International Aid, or PCPM in Polish. Students chatter in Russian and Ukrainian.

HOLOVA: Everybody said that Ukrainians are rather similar to Polish, but it's not really true.

Ana Holova teaches at the school. She’s relatively new. She started in September after fleeing the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine.

HOLOVA: New country, new language, new opportunities, and so it was not easy.

Poland and Ukraine share cultural similarities, but are still quite different.

At first, students of refugees could keep up with their schooling remotely. But last year, the Polish government passed a law requiring the Ukrainian children to attend in-person schools, eliminating online Ukrainian education. That is where education centers like PCPM come in, providing community and allowing families to continue educating their children in their mother tongue despite being far from home.

One of Holova’s colleagues is from Kherson. To protect family members still in Ukraine, WORLD is only using Yulia’s first name.

YULIA: Kherson was some kind like a gold cage because from our city we didn't have a way out.

Yulia’s family could not escape before Russians surrounded their city.

YULIA: They come to our city and told us that they “save us,” Ukrainian people.

The Russians said they were liberating Kherson from Ukrainian Nazis, but Yulia and her family didn’t believe them. With roads to the West blocked, they created a ruse to escape to the East.

YULIA: We told them that we move to the sea we go to the sea we want to spend some days because we never were in Georgia.

Georgia the country, south of Russia on the Black Sea. The Russians bought the story, so Yulia and her daughter headed south, into more occupied territory.

YULIA: And we move out through the Crimea, through the Russia, to Georgia, and then by the plane to Warsaw.

Yulia and her daughter have now lived in Warsaw for nearly three years.

YULIA: I really want to return home because my family there, my parents are still living in Kherson…

But leaving Poland might be harder than she expected.

YULIA: Several weeks ago my daughter told me that she didn't want to come home because I don't know why she told me that she almost didn't remember our life in Ukraine.

Yulia’s daughter was eight when she left Ukraine. Now she’s 11. Younger children may find it even harder to leave, as they learn to speak Polish and their families integrate into society. Programs like PCPM help preserve Ukrainian language and culture for refugees, but that doesn’t make things any easier for parents talking with their kids about returning home.

YULIA: She told me that her life is here. Her friends is here and she even can’t imagine how it can be there right now.

Kherson is no longer under Russian occupation, but it is in ruins.

YULIA: So it's impossible to come back to return there if the war stops today. No hospitals no schools I don't know my mom told me that two or three shops are work in Kherson and it's really difficult to live there.

Going back to Zaporizhia would also be challenging for Ana Holova.

HOLOVA: My region was occupied and it's still occupied now but my city is not occupied so So it gives me a hope that I will have a possibility to come back after this all ends, and I hope it will be soon.

In addition to uncertainty about the future of her city and country, Holova faces a more urgent question. Even as peace talks begin:

HOLOVA: Yeah, my husband is missing now for half a year, and I'm not sure if he's still alive….

Holova’s husband served in the Ukrainian military. In July, authorities told her he went missing in action. She’s had no news in more than 6 months.

HOLOVA: So I have to think about my children, my future, by myself and of course, it's a difficult decision. But I have no choice.

Holova hasn’t yet made plans to return, and like many other Ukrainians, she’s waiting to see what happens next before she does.

HOLOVA: I don't make plans longer than for a couple of days because only God knows what's next.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

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