HVALER (VG) Elderly people who choose not to leave their homes have been particularly vulnerable during the war in Ukraine. Evdokija Metejko (94) did not leave the apartment for 145 days. But then her family in Norway managed to persuade her.
Less than 20 minutes ago
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– I refused to go anywhere. I didn’t know the world outside my town. I did not want to leave the earth where I was born and where I have lived my life.
That’s what Evdokija Metejko, one of the oldest Ukrainian refugees who has come to Norway, tells VG.
We meet her in a funky villa in Hvaler, where four generations of Ukrainians can now gather under the same roof, after a harrowing and traumatizing six months.
Dusia, as the great-grandmother is called by the family, is crystal clear in her eyes and waves her hands enthusiastically when she tells about her journey.
– I have lived a long and painful life. But I never thought I would get to experience this, she says.
–The older ones stayed behind
On 24 February, the Russian forces moved in across the Ukrainian border. The lives of millions of Ukrainians were suddenly turned upside down. The Sumy region and the city of Sumy, which is close to Russia, quickly came under attack.
On the fifth floor of one of the city’s apartment blocks sat the great-grandmother Dusia.
She hadn’t followed the news closely, but when her daughter told her what had happened, the immediate reaction was unmistakable:
No matter how bad the war would get, she wasn’t going anywhere. Only twice in her long life had she been outside the city limits.
Millions of Ukrainians chose to flee in the weeks and months that followed, but while the border crossings with Poland and Romania were jammed with people, many of Ukraine’s oldest residents chose to stay in their homes.
Dosia was just one of very, very many.
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In March, a month into Russia’s full-scale invasion, it was done A survey in which 1,500 elderly people over the age of 60 in the Ukrainian-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk participated.
99 percent of respondents said they did not want to leave their homes. 91 per cent stated that they needed help in obtaining food.
The same tendencies were also evident in other parts of Ukraine.
In May wrote Human Rights Watch that the Ukraine war has largely shown how vulnerable older people are in the conflict. Images of suffering elderly people unable to make it to bomb shelters and having to be carried across destroyed bridges were widely published around the world.
The organization also pointed out that while many did not leave because they were physically unable to flee, a large proportion decided that they did not want to leave the homes they had had throughout their lives.
–– I felt like a traitor
This was the problem for Dusia’s family.
Her daughter Mykolenko Tetiana (68) decided to leave Sumy with her husband three weeks into the war, on 9 March. Tetiana had then spent the first weeks making Molotov cocktails to contribute to the city’s defense against Russian occupation – and she had done everything she could to persuade her mother to leave.
– When I decided to run away and leave her in Sumy, I couldn’t sleep. I felt very bad, like a traitor, says Tetiana to VG.
Tetiana chose to flee to Hvaler in Norway, where their daughter Natalie already lived and was married to a Norwegian man.
Dusia still had neighbors and friends who could bring food and other goods she needed in the apartment. She has bad legs, and as a result of the bombing the lifts in the building did not work. She therefore remained in the apartment at all times of the day.
– I felt so alone. Those were very bad days. I waited every single day for my daughter to return, says Dusia.
But the daughter was already in Norway, and the family continued to try to persuade the 94-year-old.
“There is so much wonderful to experience”
In July, they finally succeeded.
Dusia decided when she saw that her entire family was in Norway, and in fact was not going to return to Sumy anytime soon.
– I didn’t tell any of my friends and neighbors that I was leaving. They thought I was too weak to complete the journey. I just packed some simple clothes and left, she says.
Granddaughter Natalie Nordvik was sitting at home at Hvaler and was very stressed.
Dusia was driven out of Sumy, through large parts of Ukraine, and into Poland.
– I was so relieved when I found out that she had crossed the border, says Natalie.
–Return?
Dusia loved what she saw on the trip, she thought Poland was so beautiful.
To the family she said: “How stupid I have been not to have traveled before. There is so much wonderful to experience!”
At Råde, where she was registered as a refugee, she enjoyed herself.
There were so many young handsome men around me. I remember the policeman who helped me was so handsome. I laughed with joy, she says.
The big question for most people who flee is: “When can we return home?”
With a 94-year-old great-grandmother in the house, it is not an easy issue to talk about out loud.
Dusia is nevertheless determined, also on that question:
– I want to go back, she says.
For daughter, 68-year-old Tatiana, it is not unlikely, if the situation stabilizes within a few years. But for now it is the new life in Norway that matters.
– Now the family is together. I can finally breathe, she says.
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