When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Galina Dmitrieva went down to the basement of her house on the outskirts of Kharkiv. She was there for two months. Kharkiv was under fire, and a quiet life in a house with a garden and chickens was suddenly changed into a struggle to survive. – The bombs came from all sides. There were flames everywhere, and we did not understand what was happening. It was very scary, tell the older woman quietly. ESCAPE FROM EVERYTHING: She escaped from Kharkiv after two months in refuge in the basement. Now she lives with a good helper in Brandbu. But she misses her home. In safety No, Dmitrieva lives at the home of the truck driver Leon Thomassen in Brandbu on Hadeland. He is one of many private zealots who have organized bus trips to Poland to bring Ukrainian refugees to Norway. ON TRAVEL: Galina Dmitrieva outside the bus a city in Poland. Photo: Leon Thomassen / private One of those who got on the bus at the beginning of May was Dmitrieva, or “babushka” as Thomassen calls her. – She said that she had walked large parts of the road between Kharkiv and Lviv, says Thomassen. Dmitrieva herself told that she did not want to leave her home, but that she had to. When she was forcibly evacuated by the Ukrainian military, she did not manage to put on shoes. – So I walked the whole first day without shoes, she adds. The other refugees had been driven to the national arrival center in Råde, but “babushka” was by bus all the way home to Brandbu. ON THE BUS: Leon Thomassen has organized several bus trips to Poland to pick up refugees. Maryna Sachenok herself has fled Ukraine, and has contributed as an interpreter and assistant on many buses to Poland. Photo: leon thomassen / private – I could not let such a sweet old lady come to Norway and be alone in her old days. There was something inside me that just said I had to help her, says Thomassen. After a quarter of an hour they got in touch with the daughter of Dmitrieva who had fled to Germany. Now she also lives at Thomassen’s in Brandbu. SAFE TOGETHER: Galina Dmitrieva (in the middle) now lives with her daughter Olena Biesiedina at Leon Thomassen’s in Brandbu. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news Most likely Norway picks up too few refugees Since the war in Ukraine started, Norwegian zealots have brought over 5,000 Ukrainian refugees to Norway by bus. More than 3,000 of these have come from the reception center in the Polish city of Przemysl near the border with Ukraine. The truck driver Leon Thomassen has spent around 200,000 kroner on his own and collected money on two of the buses. But now this offer is about to stop. – For three and a half months, we have been working with ad hoc solutions. Now we are broke. We volunteers do not have more money, he says. Thomassen believes that the need is still great, and that the Norwegian authorities should be more involved in helping refugees to Norway. – It can not be up to volunteers to help people who are in the middle of a major humanitarian disaster. I am very disappointed with the Norwegian government, they do nothing to help people to Norway, says Thomassen. Has picked up 14 news has made a number of attempts to get the Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl to comment on the criticism from Thomassen. For example, we have not closed. But the government has previously warned against such private aid initiatives as the one Thomassen is behind. At a press conference in March, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl said that the government advises private individuals not to pick up refugees themselves. The reason is that the government fears human trafficking, and that the government does not get a good enough overview of who is coming to the country. WARNING: Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) has asked volunteers not to pick up refugees on their own. Photo: William Jobling / news At the same press conference, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that Norway would pick up 2,500 Ukrainian refugees from Moldova. Ukraine’s neighbor to the south had asked Norway for help in dealing with the refugee crisis within European cooperation with the EU. But when the first plane from Moldova landed on May 14, there were only 14 refugees on board. Since then, Norway has not picked up more refugees, cork from Moldova or other countries. “They were basically safe in Moldova, so they want to go further away than before,” Wenche Fone, director of protection at the UDI, told news at the time. – Framleis needs in Poland Leon Thomassen says that he knows of many who sit in reception in Poland who want to go to Norway. – Those who are fleeing now are not as resourceful as those who traveled in the first days. They need help to get on, he says. But Poland has not formally asked Norway for help. In May, the Polish ambassador rightly said that the country had appreciated whether Norway would offer to receive a specific number of refugees from Ukraine. Then the Minister of Justice Enger Mehl answered this: – We will open up to relocate for those who ask for assistance about it. Poland has not requested such assistance, nor do we know that it has requested assistance through the common European solutions that are now up to par. Leon Thomassen has resigned. He fears that it will no longer be possible for refugees like Galina Dmitrieva to get to Norway – It may be time for the government to do something active now, he says. We volunteers, who are completely ordinary people, have brought over 5,000 refugees to Norway. The government has fetched 14. That is not how it should be, he adds. Since Tuesday 21 June, news has asked the Minister of Justice for a comment several times. The communication unit of the Ministry of Justice’s last answer came on Wednesday 29 June: «Hello! Sorry this takes some time. We will get back to you as soon as possible ». UNIQUE FRIENDSHIP: Truck driver Leon Thomassen and Galina Dmitrieva have become good friends. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news Will return Galina Dmitrieva is very grateful for all the help she has received in Norway. During the interview, she repeatedly emphasizes how happy and touched she is about how Norway has received her as a refugee. The last time in refuge in the basement of Kharkiv was strenuous. They began to run out of food, and Dmitrieva feared it would go as it did after the previous war on Ukrainian soil. – In 1946 I was five years old, she says. Then we had nothing. We ate trees to survive. I’m afraid it’s going to be like this in this war too. She hopes she will have time to experience that the war ends. – Then I want to go back, she says. I dream of seeing my homeland again. We ask her what she thinks about the Russians now? She is silent, but it glitters in her eyes. – I do not want to think about them, she finally says. I’m just an ordinary, older woman tending my garden and house. That’s all, says Galina Dmitrieva. There is nothing more to say. MOTHER AND DAUGHTER: Galina and Olena live temporarily in Leon Thomassen’s house in Brandbu. When the war ends, they will return to Ukraine. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news
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Galina (81) bid in the middle of the bombing in Kharkiv. Now she is finally safe in Norway. – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
