For the second year in a row, over a hundred thousand Ukrainian refugees will celebrate Easter in the Republic of Moldova
More than 8 million Ukrainians will, for the second year in a row, spend the Easter holidays away from home. More than 100 thousand of them will spend it in the Republic of Moldova. Despite the war, people continue to hope that they will be able to return home as soon as possible, and Easter reminds them of the togetherness of family.
Centres and organisations providing support to Ukrainian refugees have been trying to provide them with the best possible conditions to prepare for Easter. Several women and children from Ukraine gathered at the Temporary Accommodation Centre for Refugees near the airport to prepare for Easter. Together they hatched eggs, and at the end of the preparations, the families received traditional Easter cakes, Maria M Kall, Women's Community Mediator of the Refugee Charity Centre, told our radio station.
"We prepared for Easter, with all the refugees we dyed eggs, did a workshop with the children and after that we had a small celebration. It is a joy that at Easter we put Easter on the table. It is a symbol of goodness."
The war, but also being far from home, has greatly affected the spirit of the Easter holidays, say some refugees. At the same time, other families will mark Easter under these conditions, especially for the sake of their children.
"We are in Moldova for the second year. Last year we were crying, now we've settled in, we're going to work, to kindergarten."
"We are very cheerful because all the holidays pass like ordinary days. I'm not even going to prepare, but we thank the Moldovans for their support"; "Very modest, not as usual. We will simply sit with grandparents in the morning for lunch"; "We have children and despite the fact that there is war in our country we will prepare jelly, we will paint eggs and go to church. We'll get into a festive mood"
According to the latest data from the UN refugee agency, there are currently about 106 thousand Ukrainians in Moldova who have fled the war caused by Russia.
