Ludmila, director of a kyiv clinic who took refuge in Toulouse, lost everything
Between 3 and 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country to find refuge in European countries. They would be around 26,000 to have arrived in France. Including in Toulouse.
Ludmila is about fifty years old. This dentist left everything overnight. Arrived last Wednesday in the Pink City because her daughter and her husband are installed there, not knowing a word of French, she kills time by sorting the donations intended for Ukraine in Hall 9 of the Ile du Ramier. A place that now centralizes parcels to Ukraine or refugees arriving in France. ” I’m better ” she thanked meticulously applying the medical equipment for her compatriots; “I finally feel safe, even though tears still come to my eyes, I am very worried about my husband” remained to fight west of the Dnieper. She communicates regularly via the Internet with her husband, “fortunately it is in a fairly quiet place ” But “The sirens go off all the time, announce that the bombs may fall. »
The 50-year-old did not see the corpses, “I was spared”; “but I saw the houses of my neighbors destroyed by the bombardments”. Her daughter, a French speaker with whom we were able to discuss, did not wish to translate her mother’s proposals into the microphone. “too hard, I’m going to cry” she apologizes. It is one of the leaders of the Free Ukraine association of Toulouse who will officiate. In unison with Ukrainian civilians and leaders, she is not losing her temper “I love my land” ; “ we don’t need a neighboring country to come and explain to us how to live, it’s our country, our homeland and we’re going to defend it to the end. » According to her, nothing will be how it was before and this war will leave its mark, because she says “I was born in the days of the Soviet Union, we were taught there that we were all brothers and sisters. Russia was a friendly country and today they are stabbing us in the back. This wound will stay…”