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On the 24th of February I woke up in Kyiv at 5 am to the sound of series of explosions is the worst possible dream. When it comes in a real life, first very seconds you do not understand what you hear... So I was just sitting in a bad trying to collect myself and realize what are these voices outside about. And then in a minute my father called me: “My daughter, how are you? Do you hear the explosions? It is the war! The war began!..”

Before the war came there were a lot of talks and news, but we were hoping that common sense will prevail, and we will manage to avoid the military tensions. Unfortunately, the world history was expecting yet another scenario.

And then we had long days and nights – of uncertainty, constant fear, stress, anxiety, inability to eat and sleep… In the first day of the war we found the closest shelter which, on a happier occasion, was in the same building where my family and I live. It was not the classic bomb shelter, but rather a basement built in the late 60th. Some days and nights we spent there, although, this place was not very much prepared to stay for long. We also replanned our apartments a bit, set up the hall (corridor) – the safest place in our apartments which is far from windows – with important things to live and sleep there, taped up the windows. When we heard the explosions are too loud we ran to the shelter. Back and forth, back and forth, all days and nights long…

After continuous attacks on Kyiv and massive blasts in the city, dozens of restless days and nights, my husband and I decided that I should take our 13 year old son Illya and leave Ukraine to find a more safe place. We found an evacuation bus from Kyiv to Lviv (the city close to Polish border) and took the chance. The bus trip lasted around 28 hours. The traffic was horrible. Can’t describe in words what we saw within the trip – bombed cities, buildings, empty streets, brave army smiling on the checkpoints, moms with infants trying to reach any possible transport going to the west…   We arrived in Lviv in the evening on Saturday and stayed for a night. Luckily (and thanks God!) I succeeded to buy Sunday’s bus tickets “Lviv - Warsaw” (the tickets were fully booked for 30 mins after the sale announcement). This trip took us yet another 14 hours and we finally reached Warsaw when my friend from our IP community hosted us for a while. After nicest stay in Warsaw, we moved to Potsdam, Germany, where we currently stay.

My husband was in Kyiv all the time with my grandma, who lives nearby. My parents and sister’s family were staying under russian occupation in the village not very far from Hostomel city for 10 days. When evacuation began, they got to a line of 50 cars under white flags and signs “Children” – and finally they successfully reached Zakarpattia Oblast, the western part of Ukraine, where it is more or less safe.

I am still busy – lots of messages/emails asking for suggestions how to help me personally and the country (for example, several days ago I was looking for a shoes store to buy shoes for children who temporary came to Poland; the other day I helped my friend, to find a truck for transportation of 2000KG of sugar; nowadays I am looking for ballistic glasses and new bullet proof vests for my friends in some central part of the country). I am also thinking a lot my about my son Illya and his daylife; new work requests; plans to attend professional conferences to keep our business as much longer and sustainable as possible; calls and messages with all the relatives and friends from Ukraine; cooking, house cleaning; submissions to German authorities for temporary protection, opening bank account, Zoom meetings with colleagues, and even at UIA's Health Committee meeting a week ago where I cried for the first time during the speech https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joanna-krakowiak-5166686a_yesterday-during-uias-health-committee-activity-6915732540108488704-ObtW?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=ios_app etc…. Therefore, my life is a roller-coaster now.

At the same time, we believe in our army and will defend our country as best as we can. We try to stay calm and strong. People of Ukraine are united, we stand tall, and our army is as strong as never before, having been perfectly trained, supplied & supported by our international partners. We expect other countries to finally wake up, face the reality to stop the russian terror and genocide over Ukraine!