According to the UN, 2 million people have already fled since the Russian invasion. Among them was an eleven-year-old boy from eastern Ukraine who made the journey to relatives in Slovakia all alone.
Hassan, 11, has arrived in Slovakia after traveling about 1,200 km. He set out from the eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya with a small backpack, a plastic bag, a passport and his family’s phone number written on his hand. His mother had put him on the train alone because she couldn’t leave her elderly mother behind. When he arrived at the border, he was further assisted by the local authorities. Volunteers received him, gave him something to eat and drink and contacted relatives in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.
The young man’s story received quite a bit of attention, so his mother made a video that the Slovakian police posted online. “Next to my city is a power station that is being shelled by the Russians. I couldn’t leave my mother – she can’t move herself – so I sent my son to Slovakia,” said Julia Pisecka in the video.
Roman Mikulec, Slovakia’s interior minister, also met the boy and posted on Facebook: “Little Hassan is only 11 years old, but he has shown perseverance, courage and fearlessness that even adults sometimes lack.”
© Slovak Ministry of the Interior