Besieged by the war in Ukraine, the Mexican rules out returning to his country for fear of insecurity

“That night, I fell asleep normally, very calmly. Usually at 5 am my cat wakes me up to eat. He accompanies me and I accompany him to the kitchen. This era was no exception. When I was in front of the table, I saw that the telephone had turned on. I picked it up and it was a message that said, “Hey, Pablo, (Vladimir) Putin just announced a Military operation. What is going on?’ When I finished reading it, at that time I heard the first explosion”.

So remember Pablo Ferrat, a Mexican who was more than 10,000 kilometers from Veracruz -where he was born-, the beginning of the make war Ukraine. From one night to the next, the circumstances of his life have changed drastically and, over time, he has had to find a way to adapt to a situation where danger lurks.

He February 24, 2022Russian military troops stormed Ukraine’s eastern border and since then have been embroiled in a war that has left over 8 thousand civilians killed and forced 7.7 million Ukrainians to leave their country, according to approximate figures – they could be higher – from the UN Human Rights Office, as well as its Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) .

Now, a year after the first Russian bombardment, Pablo recounts GlobeLiveMedia Mexico What lives in fear and uncertainty in Kyiv, in the capital of Ukraine, because in a war situation, you never know what will happen. You are treading on shaky ground where it is difficult to plan for the future, he says. Despite this, he prefers not to return to his native country. The reason: insecurity.

Pablo Ferrat arrived in kyiv just over 10 years ago, during which time he managed to build a legacy and a family. He is married and has a two-year-old daughter. He is a graphic designer and works for an international company, which makes it easier for him to carry out his conferences remotely. His wife, on the other hand, needs to be close to her country for professional reasons.

Two days after the fall of the first Russian bomb on Ukraine, Pablo learns that the building where he lives has a bomb shelter. At that time, he remembers alarms sounding, but he didn’t know what their sound meant: it could be a bombing threat, a missile, an air or sea movement, or a another military operation. Russian troops had entered several cities in kyiv and with his family moved to the south of the country Ruled by Volodimir Zelensky.

They passed through the cities of Vinnitsa and Lyviv. Within a week, they were in another country: Poland. They stayed there for three months, where Pablo says he experienced one of his biggest crises, because the uncertainty was such that they even reached the point of not knowing if they would return home. But it happened that Pablo’s wife was invited to return to Lyviv for work, and in June they were already back in Ukraine. In August they were again in kyiv, where their experience of war had begun.

“It was not easy, but we felt at home. When you live in a foreign country, no matter how beautiful, you feel like a refugee. You are a refugee. It’s very hard to deal with this feeling because it’s a decision you didn’t make, someone else made it for you. You’re afraid you don’t belong anywhere», recalls Pablo of his stay in Poland.

“Well, how has that changed from that day to today. I can tell you that the first impression is terrorof uncertaintyBecause you don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve (never) been in a war, you don’t know how it evolves, “recalls Pablo from his apartment in kyiv, when a few hours earlier Russia had carried out a Blitz in various places in Ukraine, leaving them without electricity or internet.

The director of Culture and Emergencies, Krista Pikkat, announced at the end of January that since the beginning of the war, 239 cultural sites have been damaged and destroyed, in addition to the 3,000 schools affected throughout the country. During this time, health facilities have received more than 800 attacks and more than 75,000 buildings reduced to rubble.

Despite the large-scale invasion and destruction, Pablo claims to have witnessed no deaths, which does not lessen the impact the war had on him. Although he says living through armed conflict is not something you get used to, he says managed to adapt his life to the new circumstances and continue with their daily lives.

“life usually goes on. You go out to the street and all the shops are generally open. Even after a bombing, people go back to their normal lives.”

This “normal life” implies, in addition to the feeling of “danger” and “uncertainty”, a curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., power outages of four to eight hours (due to attacks on electrical infrastructure that began in October), drop in GDP by 30%, inability to project into the future and that the slightest activity you were doing before, like shopping or going to the gym, is interrupted by a bomb threat.

However, Veracruz He does not plan to return to Mexico For now. Since 2019, he has not set foot on his territory. Partly, he says, because his home and family are now in Ukraine. Partly, he says, because of insecurity. Partly, he says, because he has a daughter and his protective instincts warn him not to take her there.

“For me, Mexico is more dangerous (…) I have an alarm here and I know that my safety depends on going to a bunker and taking refuge there as long as necessary. In Mexico, the problem is that you go out into the street and no one warns you (…) It’s a very sad situation. I can’t say people are living safely here now, but I feel there are more opportunities to take care of you. I have a two year old daughter, I would be afraid to take her to Mexico”

In 2022, 9 hours 10 most violent cities of the world met in Mexico, due to the number of recorded intentional homicides per 100,000 population, according to figures from the Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice. They are among themselves Colima (Colima), Zamora (Michoacán), Town of Obregon (Soora), zacatecas (Zacatecas), Tijuana (Baja California), Celaya (Guanajuato), Uruapan (Michoacán), Juarez (Chihuahua) and acapulco (Guerrero).

According to the Article 19 organization, at least 12 journalists were killed for his work throughout 2022 in Mexico, being Veracruz -where Pablo is from- one of the most dangerous entities to practice this profession, since it concentrates the highest number of deaths in the whole country. In UkraineFor its part, 12 media professionals have diedaccording to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Although a comparison between the two countries may be imprecise, the truth is that just as there are Mexicans who decide to stay on Ukrainian territory – despite the war – there are also Ukrainians who have left their country and They found refuge in Mexico.

During the first 100 days of the war, about 200 Ukrainians they took refuge in a hostel located in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. Some of them chose to remain in Mexican territory, while others hoped to reach the border town of Tijuana, Baja California, where there were thousands of Ukrainians who had fled the war, in order to ask for asylum in the United States, according to the United with Ukraine.

The position defended by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine is one of non-intervention. he avoided applying political and economic sanctions to the Kremlin. For him, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Mexico, Oksana Dramaretskaasked for more support from the Mexican government to end the war.

As for the government of López Obrador, I am not very happy with his position. At some point I heard he had his peace plan too, but I’m sure he’s completely unaware of the historical reasons why this is happening. They believe that if Ukraine cedes territories like Crimea or the East, this war will end. No, this war is existential. It is because of the existence of the Ukrainian country and its people as such,” concludes Pablo, not knowing if he will ever return to his native country.