Paul Umuche, a 26-year-old Nigerian student, heard a huge explosion from his apartment in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. He peeked through the window but was not sure where the sound was coming from, so he remained in his apartment. Russia invaded Ukraine the same day and the blast Umuche had heard some hours ago, was from bombing and rockets targeted at different parts of the city.
When Umuche read the news and saw that Ukraine was being invaded, he told his roommate, another Nigerian, that they had to leave the city. “The whole building was shaking from the impact of the blast and we became afraid,” he said. “I saw Ukrainians and other people running to different directions and it became clear to me that this has become serious.”
As news of the invasion circulated, frantic evacuation efforts across the country started. Umuche grabbed a backpack, packed a few of his stuff and headed to the train station. At the train station, more than 4,000 people – Ukrainians and foreigners – had swarmed around the premises and were waiting to take the train. The chaos of the invasion had caused delays with some services – airports, train stations and taxis shutting down. Umuche and his friend joined the queue and were hoping to take the next available train leaving the city.
“Everybody was confused and wanted to leave for safety,” he said. After waiting at the train station for some five hours, none arrived. Two hours later, three 22-seater buses arrived and Umuche and his friend struggled to get in. The buses were headed for Lviv, another Ukrainian city which shares a border with Poland.
