Ukrainians in the Netherlands: ‘This scares me very much’
Ukrainians in the Netherlands follow the developments in their country with great beginnings. The Kremlin has sent a large force to the border between Ukraine and Russia. Fearing an invasion, Europe and the US are diligently trying to find a diplomatic way out.
“The situation has never been so tense,” says Dmytro (34) who has lived in the Netherlands for ten years. His wife’s family lives near the border. “The threat is great, they are in danger if there is a Russian invasion.”
The situation is more substantial than in recent years, says Vita Kovalenko, who has family and friends in the Donbass region. “We are already used to the threat of war, the war at the border has never stopped. But this is different. We are concerned and have a lot of contact with family and friends. I have young cousins who are ready to fight. They can be placed, That evokes a lot of emotions.”
Since Russia annexed cross-border Crimea in 2014, fighting has been going on in the Donbass between Russian-developed separatists and Ukrainian forces. “You are also sitting on a barrel of gunpowder. You wait for something to happen, the people in Ukraine are used to that tension,” says Serge Radochyn, who lives in Gelderland.
“The difference is that people are making plans to protect their loved ones and to move the elderly to safer places away from the areas where the risk of fighting is greatest.”
‘Stubborn to the last’
Now that Putin has allowed more than 100,000 men to advance towards the border, he has to take an action to prevent loss of face, which is clearly the must in the Netherlands. “The Russians will prove them right at all costs. “Because to lose face is the suffering they can suffer. That scares me very much.”
She fears “massive consequences” and possibly an “all-out war” if Russia even crosses the border with Ukraine by an inch. “If the first tank crosses the border, there is no turning back and then it won’t stop after a few days. If the Russian army enters Kharkov, they will continue to Kiev.”