Ukraine 1 year later: The mass exodus
Welcome back to CBS Mornings. As we mentioned, President Biden is in Poland to mark one year since Russia launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That country is one of several in Europe now dealing with a mass exodus of Ukrainians fleeing the war. The UN calls it the largest refugee crisis of this century. Our Charlie Dagodog was there as people fled. One year later, he's catching up with some of those who were forced to leave their homes. Charlie, good morning.
Good morning, Nate. We all remember those harrowing images at the train station here in Kyiv. The miles of refugees fleeing across the border and freezing temperatures, families torn apart, some never to be reunited again. We need to warn you this report contains images some might find disturbing. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked the biggest and fastest mass exodus since World War II. Eight million people fled the country according to UN figures, while another eight million escaped to safer places within Ukraine. The predictions were dire.
Kyiv would fall within three days, the entire country within weeks. Trains at the central station overflowed for days. The speed of the invasion triggered a mass panic with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing for their very lives. Today, this is a fully functioning train station, and many of those who have left have returned, feeling it's safe enough to come home. One of the first missiles to pierce the heart of the capital tore a hole in a high-rise apartment building. We rushed out to report on it. Boom, to witness the damage to people and property.
We returned to see a lot of the damage repaired and spoke to Tatiana Leschuk, who could have lost a lot more in her apartment. She described how her daughter got up early that morning and was in the hall. The blast forced the carpet over their heads, she said, protecting them from glass and debris. You were very lucky. Yes. I think that would bless us, yes. She and her family fled to Bulgaria shortly after and have since returned, although they now live in a third-floor apartment.
The suburb of Bucha was particularly hard hit, and when Russian forces advanced, Eugene Lopatin's family was trapped. Some people who were trying to escape in the first days, they were just killed inside their cars, and we were terrified to do it. Holding it on foot with a seven-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old baby son wasn't an option either. The bridge between Bucha and Kiev, it was destroyed, and there was no way to escape to Kiev. They finally made a run for it in a convoy with friends and made it to the Polish border. The men weren't allowed to leave. Families embraced one another, some for the last time.
Eugene has since been reunited with his family, but he'll never forget what he told his daughter that day he said goodbye. That I love you, and we will see each other someday, and everything will be okay, don't worry. And I told her that light always beats the darkness, so that were my words. Eugene told us he immediately volunteered to fight, but eventually returned to his neighborhood in Bucha after it was liberated, where he joined UNICEF to help local kids. He said it made it easier when he was missing his own family. Jerika? Yeah, nice to see him reunited, but so sad for the many who were not. Charlie Dagoda in Ukraine, thank you.
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