Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Anyone with friends/family in Ukraine?

54 replies

UkraineThread · 24/02/2022 08:06

Does anyone have friends and/or family in Ukraine? I have a friend (western Ukraine) and so worried. Waiting to hear from him today.

Thinking of everyone in the same boat and the Ukrainians themselves of course. There are terrible times.

OP posts:
forcedfun · 24/02/2022 08:19

Yes. Its weighing really heavily on my mind. I feel so helpless!

Kpo58 · 24/02/2022 09:00

I have a friend on Pokémon Go in Kiev. I have never communicated in real life with them and know nothing about them. I still worry for them too.

Happy36 · 24/02/2022 09:03

I have taught students who are Ukrainian and I am thinking of them and their families, and am very worried.

MephistophelesApprentice · 24/02/2022 09:10

I have several friends in Ukraine, my family took on lodgers who were doing an exchange with the YMCA there. They're very scared, but defiant.

Original poster
UkraineThread · 24/02/2022 11:32

@MephistophelesApprentice My friend also seemed resigned rather than panicking (but that was yesterday, I've not been able to speak to him today yet). We are so used to just being able to jump on a plane and travel up til now so the distance hasn't seemed that great, but now it feels so far away. I can't imagine what it would be like if the internet went down and communications were cut.

(I also feel guilty for worrying about how this is going to affect us in the UK eg gas prices increasing, when they are there on the ground and at physical risk).

OP posts:
PotatoGoblins · 24/02/2022 11:40

I have a friend who’s spent the past 2 years alongside other volunteers from various other countries in Ukraine actively taking part in their military efforts to thwart Russian invasion.
I’m very worried about his safety now.

Original poster
UkraineThread · 25/02/2022 15:30

I have spoken to my friend who is naturally very afraid but doesn't want to leave Ukraine for family reasons unless there is absolutely no choice. I think there is an element of shock and disbelief. There is no food in local shops and queues everywhere. We are going to try and stay in daily contact - I'm really worried about communications being cut. He is also very disappointed in the response from the west but I don't want to turn this into a political thread, more a support thread.

It's terrifying.

OP posts:
orio · 25/02/2022 17:49

@UkraineThread

I have spoken to my friend who is naturally very afraid but doesn't want to leave Ukraine for family reasons unless there is absolutely no choice. I think there is an element of shock and disbelief. There is no food in local shops and queues everywhere. We are going to try and stay in daily contact - I'm really worried about communications being cut. He is also very disappointed in the response from the west but I don't want to turn this into a political thread, more a support thread.

It's terrifying.

I literally can't imagine what they are going through and completely understand that they must feel abandoned by the West, it's so sad.
Original poster
UkraineThread · 25/02/2022 18:13

It just seems so surreal. They are conscripting men now. I just can't believe it's happening. This sounds really stupid, but reading the news is scary enough, but when it's one of your friends/family actually there it doesn't seem real. My messages today haven't been delivered to him so I don't know if there are problems with the internet.

OP posts:
TheGreatATuin · 25/02/2022 18:18

@UkraineThread

It just seems so surreal. They are conscripting men now. I just can't believe it's happening. This sounds really stupid, but reading the news is scary enough, but when it's one of your friends/family actually there it doesn't seem real. My messages today haven't been delivered to him so I don't know if there are problems with the internet.
That's interesting. I've also got a friend in Ukraine and my message hasn't gone through. I was wondering if there were Internet/network issues.
forcedfun · 25/02/2022 18:40

Same here - messages not getting through now. It's awful and it feels so weird and surreal

ABitBesotted · 25/02/2022 18:42

Many friends in Ukraine.

FabricedeSauveterre · 25/02/2022 19:22

I had a call with a business contact in Kiev last week. She runs a surrogacy agency, there are a lot of worried intended parents around the world about their babies in Ukraine.

ABitBesotted · 25/02/2022 21:06

@FabricedeSauveterre

I had a call with a business contact in Kiev last week. She runs a surrogacy agency, there are a lot of worried intended parents around the world about their babies in Ukraine.
Westerners exploiting desperate Ukrainian women probably aren't high on anybody's pity list here.Confused
Simonjt · 25/02/2022 21:19

Yes, thankfully we know they have managed to leave and are now in Lublin, they both hold EU passports so someone in our rugby community is going to house them once they get to Germany.

Original poster
UkraineThread · 25/02/2022 21:31

I want to say that's good news for your friends @Simonjt, of course it's not good news as such though, having to leave your home etc, but at least they will be physically safer. @ABitBesotted I agree with you. I'm more concerned for the babies and exploited women trying to live through this.

I haven't heard from my friend today. Messages haven't been delivered, I'm worried sick for him and his family. I so hope they are safe.

OP posts:
Original poster
UkraineThread · 25/02/2022 21:32

Has anyone else managed to have any contact with anyone in Ukraine today?

OP posts:
TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 25/02/2022 21:33

Not me but a dear friend and work colleague has friends and all of her husbands family in Ukraine.

She has heard from her friend who is safe but still unable to get hold of her in laws.

This might sound really stupid but actually hearing what she had to say about her home country and how scared she is for everyone has really brought it home for me more than Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and all the other awful wars we have had. She is utterly heartbroken to see this happening in such a beautiful country.

I'm praying for her family and desperate for her to get some good news.

CMeredithC · 25/02/2022 21:47

I have several friends and work colleagues in Ukraine. Most of them in Kharkiv, which is just a few miles from the Russian border in the east.

They’re all very scared and worried. There’s a sense of surrealism and many just can’t believe what’s going on. I especially feel for a few colleagues who have their 18-20 year olds studying overseas. They must be somewhat relieved they’re ‘safe’ for now, but it’s heartbreaking to not know when they’ll be able to see each other again.

I’m most concerned for a Ukrainian colleague who is/was working in Russia. They quit their job yesterday and are now trying to get back home. There are no direct flights of course, only one connection to Moscow a week from where they live (middle of nowhere), and then they’ll need to fly south, and somehow cross the border. The main road that connects the last city in Russia with the first city in Ukraine is currently blocked by the military. I am so, so worried for them. The alternative is a 40+ hour drive. They’re literally leaving their life behind and it was all so sudden and unexpected. These are ethnically-Russian Ukrainians who identified as either, grew up on the border and were happy to work and live in either country. Up until yesterday, when they suddenly realised what is home and what isn’t.

I’m staying in contact via Facebook with most of them, but they’ve just announced social media might be restricted, so I’m getting their phone numbers just in case. It’s crazy that in 2022 we’re this worried about losing online contact with people.

Original poster
UkraineThread · 26/02/2022 08:19

The word "surreal" is the one that keeps coming up. The situation really is unbelievable. It also makes you realise how reliant we are on the internet etc for communication. I've still not heard from my friend, my messages haven't been delivered and I can't get through by phone. Every time my phone makes a noise I'm snatching at it hoping it's them. It feels so helpless. Someone linked to this article on another thread earlier so I am reposting it here as I know a lot of people are feeling the same way. I wish I was religious as I feel like I should be praying, but I am thinking of them constantly and everyone else affected by this.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/24/how-can-britons-help-the-people-of-ukraine

OP posts:
User48751490 · 26/02/2022 08:28

You beat me to it ABitBesotted.

gogohm · 26/02/2022 08:31

Dd has, no word since Wednesday. She's also got a Finnish friend who can see the Russian border from his house who is very worried. My Belorussian friend flew her parents to the U.K. last weekend. Concerning all around.

Madmog · 26/02/2022 08:44

My DD has friends in Ukraine and also Russia. I haven't spoken to her about it since Thursday, but originally it was her Russian friend who was more worried!!

I strongly suspect it's presently her Ukrainian friend, whose more worried as he's 20 and will more than likely end up fighting. whose more worried. Her Russian friend is in the safety of another country, but had planned to return home. She's worried about her family, but they don't want her to return.

QuentininQuarantino · 26/02/2022 08:49

One of my dearest friends is from Ukraine and although she’s not living there her family is. Her brother has been given a Kalashnikov and allowed to accompany his parents to the polish border before going back to his kyiv flatshare. He’s the same age as my brother, both goofy 20 something’s enjoying their first jobs post uni, playing gameson their smartphones and furnishing their first apartments with IKEA. Both just kids really.

Original poster
UkraineThread · 26/02/2022 14:01

It's absolutely terrifying. I can't imagine what they are going through.

OP posts: