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CAROLINA TORRES

MULTIMEDIA DOCUMENTARIST

LAST-MINUTE HOLIDAYS
Ukrainian children fleeing to Europe

Romania - Ukraine | 2022

How do you explain war to a child? I have asked different mothers from different Ukrainian cities and their answers have been similar: “We tell them that we are going to take a long trip through Europe and meet many people and other children to explain the long trips and stays in crowded shelters, but when my children ask me where their father is, I can't find the words to answer”.

According to UNICEF, one month of the war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of 4.3 million children, one of the fastest large-scale movements of children since the Second World War.

A young mother and her daughter arrive at the Siret border crossing, in Romania, where they are welcomed by local firefighters.

After leaving the tent to get on the bus to Italy with their mother, they leave behind a stuffed animal, a scarf, and two pairs of gloves.

A tent at the Siret border crossing, in Romania.

A young mother prepare her daughter for their trip to Italy.

A young mother and her two daughters start their journey to Italy.

The landscape mothers and children see on the bus.

Two girls play during their train journey from the border city of Suceava to Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

A little boy draws military vehicles on a train to Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

A child plays in a center for refugee minors at the train station in Bucharest, Romania.

Lena, 2 years old, plays and feels at home while she sits in a chair identical to the one she had in Mariupol, her hometown.

Victoria, 4 years old, watches a Ukrainian cartoon with her grandmother in a five-star hotel transformed into a shelter for women and children.

Four Ukrainian children play in the center of Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

Two Ukrainian boys play shoot at each other in the center of Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

A sports center in the city of Suceava, Romania, transformed into a shelter for Ukrainian mothers and children.

Two sisters Ania, 16, and Alina, 12, play the flute in a bomb shelter in Chernivtsi. When the air-raid sirens sound, the mothers turn off the lights for fear of being the target of attacks and the only source of light is the flashlights of mobile phones.

A little boy arrives at the Siret border crossing, in Romania, with f his sisters and his mother.

A conductor approaches a train that arrives at the Suceava station, Romania, to change shifts and drive the 23.30 train to Bucharest.

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