She acted on maternal instinct. On February 24, the first day of the war in Ukraine, Oleksandra Makovii posted a photo of herself on her Instagram account. We see her daughter, Vira, 2, with her name and phone number written on her back.
“I realized that we risked separation. When I wrote on his back he was shaking a lot,” he confesses to BFMTV.
The photo goes around the world and becomes the symbol of the anguish of the Ukrainian people. Oleksandra explains that she later received many messages telling her: “We did the same thing.”
“Make my family safe”
“I am not sharing this photo for fame but to record what we went through and show how scared we were and how painful it was,” he explains.
Today, Oleksandra lives in France, in Lespignan, in Hérault, with her daughter and her husband Vitaly. They left on the first day of the conflict and crossed Europe by car.
“It was very painful to leave, but my only idea was to take my family to a safe place,” says the young mother.
“We try to recreate a life”
The family chose to come to France because Vitaly speaks French. If they don’t know when they will be able to return to Kyiv, where Oleksandra and Vitaly were art teachers and artists, they want to integrate into France.
“We try to recreate a life, not to be a burden. Vitaly already has a job and I’m painting again, I have some exhibitions in August and September. Vira goes to kindergarten in September and I am learning French”, explains Oleksandra. to our microphone.
In total, according to the start of the war, more than nine million Ukrainians have left their country, according to the UN.
Source: BFM TV
