It has been nearly a month after the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out. A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ukraine. People in the warzone have been hit with a chaotic reality.

Ke is a Chinese student studying in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine. He has not been sleeping well since the launch of Russia’s “special military operation.” .

Ke told TMTPost that he has been intense every day because of the constant worry that airstrikes might hit the city any time. He was on the track of acquiring his PhD in Oil Painting in 2023. But the conflict has changed everything. He does not know what lies ahead of him.

Luckily, Ke has not experienced any life-threatening dangers yet though there is an airstrike alarm in the city from time to time. Lviv has been relatively safe from the war, which makes the city a destination for refugees from eastern Ukraine that have been displaced by the war. Refugees have crossed literally the entire Ukraine to seek shelter in Lviv. Some of them are also trying to get to neighboring countries such as Poland and Romania to seek refuge.

Ke had the opportunity to leave Ukraine but he eventually decided to stay in Lviv to help his fellow Chinese students who fled eastern Ukraine. “I could have fled. But I like this place, and the people here. I treat them like my family. And I can tell that they also like me back,” Ke said, explaining his decision. “I want to stay here to help my Chinese friends and Ukrainian friends.”

Ke shared with TMTPost his momentous choice in Ukraine. The following is his story in first person.

1.

I came to Ukraine in November 2015 for two reasons. One is that it’s cheap to study in Ukraine. Second, Ukraine’s universities pay more attention to the basics, which is important to me because I study painting. I returned to China two times from 2015 to 2021. I had ben away from Ukraine for around two years. I finally returned to Ukraine in December 2021 to study for my Ph.D. degree.  

No one knew that a war would break out between Russia and Ukraine. Everything happened so fast.

It wasn’t until the morning of February 24 that I learned from news reports that there was going to be a war. There is a six-hour time gap between Beijing and Lviv. So I got the news reports six hours late. After that, my family and friends back home bombarded me with calls and messages, asking me if I could go back to China. I could only tell them everything was fine in Lviv and that they didn’t need to worry about me.

Lviv was a famous touristic city in Ukraine before the war. Tourists from across the globe would visit here. Around three weeks before the war, an American friend of mine in Ukraine told me that he received a warning from the American government that a war might be coming. Then consulates pulled out from Ukraine. Some of my friends from other countries had also left Ukraine.

There hasn’t been any large explosion in Lviv yet. But the airstrike alarm will sound every day. I have been feeling intense all the time. I can’t sleep very well. This is very common among people.

We can’t sleep for long. We can’t even sleep for five or six hours a day because usually, the raids come at midnight. This makes everyone very intense. We need to find shelter every time the alarm sounds. I now wake up very early every morning.  Yesterday, I woke up around 4:00 am. The day before yesterday, it was around 3:00 am. After waking up, I would look at my phone and realized it wasn’t really time to get up yet.

People seeking refuge in the air raid shelther

At one time, the airstrike alarm went off at 2 in the morning again. I didn’t fully wake up from sleep. I didn’t even realize where I was and what I was supposed to do. I was in shock for a few seconds. Then I went to grab my phone and clothes and ran to the air raid shelters.

But still, it’s relatively safe here. The situation is so much worse in eastern Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv.

Kharkiv is right next to the border with Russia. You can reach the Russian border within a four-hour drive. Unlike Lviv, Kharkiv is located in a plain. It is also an industrial zone. The city has become very dangerous because of these reasons. I did my master's in Kharkiv. And one of the professors that I had there sent me pictures of the war-devastated city. Buildings have been destroyed by explosions. Some have been damaged to the extent that they only have one wall left standing. If you look through the windows on the wall, you would see there is nothing in there anymore. A bomb even went off in front of a Chinese student’s home, just one day after that student left the city.

2.

I thought about going to Poland to seek refuge after the war broke out. On the evening of February 28, I was planning to leave Ukraine. I even packed all my stuff. I told my landlord about it. And I noticed that he didn’t want me to leave. His father didn’t want to see me leave either.

When we were hiding in the air raid shelter, my landlord’s wife told me that she was sad to see me leave. “We don’t know when this war will end. We don’t know if we could see each other again in the future. We don’t know what will happen to Ukraine,” she told me. “But we want you to know that we do love you.”

I changed my mind after I woke up at 4:00 am in the morning on March 1. I decided to stay because the situation in Poland is equally messy as large groups of refugees are trying to seek protection in Poland. The Covid-19 pandemic is also very serious in Ukraine. Before the war, there were around 30,000 new cases every single day. Since the war started , there haven’t been any statistics about the pandemic. But I think it has become worse.

I didn’t want to make the situation worse by going to Poland.  So I think that staying in Lviv is a better option. Here I could help out some locals and Chinese students from eastern Ukraine. As a Chinese student who has been living here for some time, I could help students from Kyiv and eastern Ukraine find accommodations. This is the minimal thing that I could do for them.

My landlord and people who were taking shelter at my landlord’s place were very happy to learn that I was choosing to stay in Lviv. Many told me that I would not be lonely because I have them around. They asked me to seek their help if I need anything. Then I started to process a large influx of information every day. Many friends would contact me and see if I could help them. Some of them are very young. So I would directly contact their parents. They needed my help because they have never been to Lviv and did not have a place to stay. I would connect them with places I had stayed before.

The place I am staying at right now was a gastronomy school. They would also do some NGO stuff here to help minorities. The basement of the building was an air raid shelter, which has been converted into a space that can accommodate dozens of people. It can serve as an air raid shelter and a pickup point for refugees. In Ukraine, it’s required that one in every two buildings next to each other should have an air raid shelter. We happen to have a shelter, which could help me provide support for Chinese students.

My landlord’s father drove me to the train station of Lviv in the morning of March 2 to pick up four students from Kharkiv. Everything looked fine when we were crossing the city. But as we neared the train station, the things entirely changed. It was depressive. Many people at the station were refugees. There were tents near the train station for the refugees. I could see the pain of being displaced by the war on their face.

The train station of Lviv

When we finally found the Chinese students we were looking for, they were in very bad shape. The youngest student was only 20 years old. The train they were taking got stopped when passing Kyiv. They hadn’t slept for over 24 hours during their way from Kharkiv to Lviv. The train was full of refugees as well. When they finally arrived at Lviv, they were in shock and intense. They would ask me if the planes are coming when they heard noises from cars.

I think they didn’t know that in the war-struck Ukraine there is still a peaceful place like Lviv. After taking a break and having breakfast and lunch, they decided to leave for Poland though they might have to join a 14-hour lineup in order to enter Poland.

I understand their decision. This is the first time for them to see a war. They might be looking for a sense of security. But they will not be able to stay in Poland for a long time because Poland will only issue a refugee document to non-Ukrainian refugees that allows them to stay in the country for 15 days. After 15 days, they would have to come back to Ukraine.

3.

The war has not been spilling further since March 4. I guess it might have something to do with the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The weather in Lviv has been nice too.

In the past few days, I have been accommodating people from eastern Ukraine at my place. My landlord has been very busy, trying to contact people in need, procuring supplies and shuttling refugees. I think this is very Ukrainian. They don’t like to complain and be negative. They would face challenges with a positive mind.

For instance, the landlord has made the first floor a shared space for others. People would be very polite there. Nobody was there to organize anything. People would just sit there. Some people would pray there, praying for their country and hoping the war will end soon. Then people would say “Thank you” and “Goodbye” to each other after praying. There are also many people who volunteer to come over to help out. Some would bring tea and snacks here. They will just leave the things they brought in the room to express their gratitude for everything and their support for others.

Local Ukrainians making tools to protect themselves from the war

I was suffering from anxiety for some time. But I then realized the situation couldn’t become any worse anyways. I am very thankful for the support I have received. Some connections that I have on WeChat would send me money through the “red packet” feature. We have never even met. Some would connect me with people who need help in Ukraine. I gave all the money I received to my landlord, a total of 15,000 yuan so that he could help those in need.

 A person sent me 20,000 yuan just recently, asking me to help the locals. The war has made it difficult for me to convert the money into local currency. I had to turn to the local to help me exchange the money. A family had just recently come to our place. The mother could barely walk because she underwent an operation. And she still needs to take care of six children. I am planning to give some of the money to this family after converting them into local currency. I never thought that so many people would stand out and help.

I think I like Ukraine a lot. I have made some very good friends. They have helped me as well.

At one time, I got a wisdom tooth infection. A Ukrainian friend suddenly called me and said that his son would drive me to a hospital. They even got a very good dentist to treat me. When Covid-19 just broke out, some Ukrainian kids asked me if I am from China and if the virus came from China. Their teacher would tell them to not ask such questions to me because it would be very rude.

At one time, my friends and I were eating at a restaurant. There were two Ukrainians who noticed me and asked me if I am from China. They told me that they love China and that their glasses and clothes are all made in China. I have thought about it. This is not my country. I could have totally left Ukraine. But I like this place. I like this city. I like the people here. I treat them like families. And I can tell that they also love me back.

There are many things in life that are beyond our control. The war broke out only two months after I returned to Ukraine. One of my American friends tried to persuade me into going back to China like three weeks before the war. But there aren’t that many what-ifs and regrets in this world. I do not regret my decision to stay in Lviv. I wouldn’t regret it even if I die here one day. Being able to help out my Chinese friends and Ukrainian friends and staying strong with them in this war are already some of the greatest experiences that I could have had in my life.