{"id":137082,"date":"2022-03-04T10:38:30","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T09:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=137082"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:10","slug":"one-of-the-first-rockets-to-hit-kyiv-landed-in-my-neighbours-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/03\/04\/one-of-the-first-rockets-to-hit-kyiv-landed-in-my-neighbours-house\/","title":{"rendered":"‘One of the first rockets to hit Kyiv landed in my neighbours\u2019 house’"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is it like for Ukrainian students, seeing this war rage in their home country? What does it mean to them and to their friends and family? Bohdan Markiv studies Economics and is from Kyiv. \u201cThey rang me at 5am to say that the attack had begun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bohdan Markiv is one of EUR's Ukrainian students.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAli Alshamayleh<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Bohdan, 19, has an entrepreneurial spirit. \u201cAs a teenager I established an NGO that helps disabled children and promotes social entrepreneurship in teenagers by having them set up projects.\u201d He also established a small company that helps Ukrainian pupils find work placements. He has lived in Rotterdam for the last two years.<\/p>\n

During the first days of the war, Bohdan found he felt better if he was doing something, if he contributed in some way or another and did something that would make him feel less powerless. \u201cI created a map that shows the exact status of each village and city<\/a> in Ukraine. Have Russian soldiers been spotted there? Has the place been bombed? It helps refugees find a safe route.\u201d Along with other volunteers, he uses group chats and other tools to collect up-to-date information, 24\/7. \u201cOf course it\u2019s not an official map, but it has helped refugees, including my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than panic<\/h2>\n\t
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\n\t\t\u2018I was lying on the floor, shaking. I regularly have seizures, it\u2019s a tic, but this one was twice as bad as usual\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The first night of the invasion was the hardest on Bohdan. \u201cMy parents rang me at 5am to say that the attack had begun. It was like you imagine things happened back in 1941 (the year the Nazis invaded Ukraine \u2013 ed.). They told me they could hear rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bohdan tries to explain how he felt when he heard this. \u201c\u2019Panic\u2019 isn\u2019t the right word. Panic is what I experienced when the Russian army was encircling Ukraine. I panicked when Putin recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. When my parents rang that night, I had a seizure. I was lying on the floor, shaking. I regularly have seizures, it\u2019s a tic, but this one was twice as bad as usual.\u201d The next day he was so overwhelmed by his emotions that he was unable to stand upright. \u201cMy housemates helped me get through it by talking to me about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of the invasion, his parents lived in Kyiv. \u201cOne of the first rockets to hit a civilian target in the city landed in our neighbours\u2019 home,\u201d Bohdan says, his face clouding over. \u201cTheir home was destroyed. A major fire erupted and my parents\u2019 home shook really hard. You\u2019d think that people would start screaming after something like that, but no. They were actually really quiet for a few minutes. They were in shock. It wasn\u2019t until a bit later that they sprang into action and ran to a bomb shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is where his parents stayed, with the dog and two cats. \u201cAfter a few hours they were able to leave, because in those first few days, there were no continuous attacks. They came in waves.\u201d After this disastrous day, his parents initially stayed in Kyiv. \u201cThey were in shock and that first day they couldn\u2019t get anything done. But once the attacks intensified, they did flee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Escape route<\/h2>

Bohdan was able to help them do so to some extent, because his map allowed them to find a safe route. \u201cWe planned a route at night and in the morning they found a safe time to leave. And it worked, because they took a very roundabout way through a whole heap of villages, but in the end, they didn\u2019t meet a single Russian soldier.\u201d His parents fled to a small village near the city of Vinnytsia, some forty kilometres from the Moldavian border. From there his mother will try to reach Moldova.<\/p>\n

His father will have to stay in Ukraine to help fight the Russian army. Bohdan is in two minds about that. \u201cOn the one hand I understand it. My father is a reserve officer, and I\u2019m proud he and my stepbrother have enlisted in the army. But on the other hand, my father is in poor health. He has a weak back. But mostly I\u2019m proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

MH17<\/h2>

So how does he feel about Europe\u2019s response to the Russian invasion? \u201cWell, it\u2019s a lot better than it was in 2014! At the time, many people thought it was \u2018just a bunch of Ukrainians\u2019 waging war on each other, even though in actual fact, Russia was waging war on us. There was even an idiot here who said that we shot that Boeing, even though it\u2019s been proven 100% that MH17 was shot by the Russians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s all different. \u201cI\u2019m genuinely grateful for all the actions being undertaken to help refugees and collect things for them. At the same time I feel that Europe doesn\u2019t really understand yet what will happen if Ukraine falls. The next rocket will then be aimed at Moldova or the Baltic states. This is not a local conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bohdan feels that NATO should close the air space above Ukraine, even though we might have World War III on our hands if Russia and all those NATO member states should end up fighting. \u201cI understand why NATO fears this, but how can we allow children to die in Ukraine because NATO is afraid?\u201d<\/p>\n

Financial worries<\/h2>

One might almost forget that despite everything, Bohdan is still expected to study. \u201cYeah, I had a seminar about something marketing-related,\u201d he says, smiling. \u201cIt all sounds so unimportant now. All I\u2019m thinking about is what\u2019s happening in Ukraine.\u201d During one of his exams, his thoughts were mostly with his mother, whom he rang immediately afterwards. He\u2019s also worried about his tuition fees. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll be able to pay them down the track. My family are out of work. And taking out a loan is risky, because who knows what my future will be like?\u201d<\/p>\n

He is receiving help from the university. \u201cI\u2019m particularly grateful to my lecturers Vadym Volosovych and Julian Emami Namini. Vadym is originally from Ukraine himself and often discusses the situation with us. Julian sent me a message on the day of the invasion because he knew I\u2019m Ukrainian. Since then, he has contacted me every day to ask how I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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