Ukrainians who fled the war in their country are starting to return home. Three full buses leave Lithuania’s Kaunas for Ukraine every week.
“We were here for about one and a half months. We liked it very much, the people here were very kind. Everything is fine, but I want to go home,” says a Ukrainian woman, Katia, while waiting for a bus to Ukraine at the Kaunas bus station.
“I came here feeling depressed. I didn’t want to leave Ukraine, but it was scary. I didn’t know what would happen. We left two weeks after the war started. And now, we are going home. The mood is much better,” adds Iryna.
Those who have decided to return say they are worried about their safety, but homesickness is stronger than fear.
“It’s scary because of the missiles that keep being launched. We are leaving for the Khmelnytskyi region. There is no military action there, but it is still scary when missiles are flying over Ukraine,” Iryna says.
The Lithuanian NGO Strong Together (Stiprūs Kartu) has been organising regular free bus trips from Kaunas to Lviv for four weeks. As the planned buses filled up fast, more trips were added.
“We have been running two buses on Mondays and Thursdays every week. In May, all the buses filled up in two days, so we added another trip on Saturdays. These filled up in half a day,” says Linas Skardžiukas, head of the passenger transportation company Kautra.
After dropping off the Ukrainian returnees in Lviv, bus drivers also take those who wish to flee to Lithuania.
“Some return home thinking it’s all over. But those who see what is happening there want to leave. People, who meet in Lithuania, hug each other, cry, and say that they should have left earlier,” says Andrijus Targonyjus, a bus driver.
More than 50,000 refugees from Ukraine have already been registered in Lithuania. Currently, around 200–300 Ukrainians arrive every day, almost ten times less than in mid-March.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
