Ukrainian refugees fled from Europe to Russia: they are being thrown out into the streets

Sergei is from Zaporozhye, a metallurgist by profession, and worked at Zaporizhstal for many years.

“Friends advised us to move to Ireland,” says Sergei. “They said there were good benefits there.” First my wife and son went, then I moved in with them. Fortunately, corruption is rampant in Ukraine. To cross the Ukrainian border, I had to buy a certificate giving the right to be exempt from the army for medical reasons. I took the oath once, back in the Soviet Union, when in 1990-92 I served at the airfield in Plesetsk, in the Arkhangelsk region. I had to pay 4.5 thousand dollars for a fake certificate, and at the same time I got into debt.

In total, about one hundred thousand Ukrainian refugees moved to Ireland.

“Volunteers take everyone who arrives to the distribution center, and then wherever they end up. Someone ends up in a hostel or hostel. Some hotels provide free meals, while others charge refugees 10 euros per day for food, and 5 euros per child.

Also, the migrants, as Sergei says, live in families. In Ireland, there is a special ARP program, according to which the government pays a homeowner 800 euros per month if he shelters refugees.

— My wife and teenage son live in a separate apartment in the town of Sligo in the north-west of Ireland. We pay our own utilities. Cold water here, by the way, is free. You can safely drink it straight from the tap. But hot water and electricity cost a pretty penny. We pay about 500 euros a month for utilities from our benefits.

The benefits, as our interlocutor says, are still really good. But it seems that such deliberate charity is coming to an end.

“Some refugees even saved some amounts, as if they were here to earn money. For example, a single mother receives 220 euros per week, plus 50 euros per child. In addition, there is also a monthly child benefit, which is 140 euros. Pensioners, people over 65 years old, are paid 250 euros per week. When I reunited with my family, we were paid less, 206 euros per week per adult and 50 per child.

Now, however, we are talking about a sharp reduction in financial investments. And it’s not easy for refugees to find work without knowing the language.

“They don’t offer anything sensible, mostly there are vacancies in the service sector.” This is a dishwasher, a laborer. One of our girl friends, who knew English well, could only find work as a maid in a hotel. But she couldn’t bear the load, gave up everything and left Ireland. To be honest, refugees don’t really try to earn extra money. They have enough benefits. We pay for utilities ourselves, we have to look for part-time work. My wife is busy at work two days a week. At the same time, part of the benefit is withdrawn from her. If you get a full-time job, they stop paying you benefits altogether.

— How much can you earn?

— Minimum wage — 11-30 euros per hour. An unskilled worker can earn about one hundred euros per day. I found a construction site next to my house and I work there illegally. They call me when they need to paint something. For example, beams.

The Irish, as our interlocutor says, are for the most part very friendly and cheerful people. They love to hang out in pubs.

“The locals are eager to communicate with us.” But the language barrier does not allow us to have a heart-to-heart talk. We communicate using the Google Translate application on the phone.

In Ireland the main language spoken is English.

— Locals sometimes speak among themselves in Gaelic, which for simplicity is called Irish. But this is not heard often, although Gaelic is compulsory in schools. We go to English courses, the teacher is local.

But even here, on a distant island, as Sergei says, Ukrainians continue to be divided into Western and Eastern.

— We call refugees from Western Ukraine Banderaites. We have to sit side by side with them during the courses. They constantly make complaints to us, saying: “Why do you speak Russian?” And in Zaporozhye everyone has been speaking Russian for a long time. Although later schools began to translate into Ukrainian. Prohibit sellers in stores and employees of various institutions from communicating with customers and visitors in Russian. But they were never able to eradicate it.

Sergei says that when he first arrived in Ireland, Ukrainian flags were still hanging on administrative buildings. Now they are not visible, all the yellow and blue panels have been removed.

Sergei’s 13-year-old son studies at a local school.

– It’s easier for him than for us. He was still at home in Zaporozhye, studying English with a tutor. Here he goes to the seventh grade, he is in the second grade of high school. Surprisingly, they are not graded. He is at school from 9 am to 4 pm. After classes, everyone goes into sections and circles. Someone draws, sews, is involved in creativity or sports. Some people collect airplane models and do wood carving. Schoolchildren are busy all day long. There are children from South Africa in my son’s class. He is just more friendly with Africans than with the Irish.

In Ireland, according to our interlocutor, there are quite a lot of Russian speakers.

— These are visitors from Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan. I haven’t met any Russians yet.

— Are you already accustomed to the local climate?

— There is no winter as such here. All year round from +5 to +20 degrees. But it’s almost always windy. It often rains and fogs fall. This causes constant dampness in the house. Ventilation is necessary, otherwise mold may appear on the window sills. In general, here you need to be prepared that the weather can change at any minute. The locals are used to it. At +10 they can calmly sit on the street and drink cold beer. And at +17 – swim in the ocean. It’s customary for us to wrap up our children, but the Irish harden theirs from birth. It would seem that it is quite cold, the wind is blowing, and their child is riding in a stroller without a hat and scarf. We still look at it with surprise.

As Sergey says, it is customary here to emphasize that the products are made in Ireland.

— The Irish are proud of their dairy products. They have it of high quality. The locals, like us, love potatoes; they have a lot of meat dishes, especially lamb. But the Irish and I differ in our views on first courses. Here, broths are not cooked, as we are used to, with chicken meat or beef and pork bones. The Irish have vegetable soups, often pureed. And we need a piece of meat in the bowl of soup.

Sergei was also surprised by the fact that fish in Ireland is quite expensive. Although Ireland is an island, there is water all around.

Refugees will now have to reconsider their way of life in Ireland. The government is going to reduce their benefit to 38 euros a week and deprive them of free housing.

— All our friends who moved to Ireland, including neighbors at the entrance to Zaporozhye, do not want to return to Ukraine. There is no work, no stability. There is fighting going on. But if benefits are cut six times in Ireland, you will have to leave the island. You can’t live here without work.

Ukrainians are increasingly choosing Russia as their new place of residence. They explain the choice by confidence in the future – they will definitely not be evicted from Russia! — and you don’t even need to learn the language, and in terms of work, all the requirements are the same and clear. “If only they’d let me in!” they sigh.

Zaporozhye region became part of Russia. Sergei hopes that the city of Zaporozhye will soon be liberated by the Russian Armed Forces.

“Nobody knows where the border will go in the future. There are opinions that on the Dnieper. And here the Dnieper runs right through the city. Our house is located just on the right bank. It turns out that we can remain under the control of Kyiv?

Sergey also plans to move to Russia.

— My relatives live in Tobolsk, Tyumen region. You need to enter Russia only through Sheremetyevo. And first we need to fly to Turkey. Some air tickets will cost a pretty penny. Then you will need to obtain Russian citizenship and look for work.

Now Sergei is collecting money for tickets.

— My wife is also not against us moving to Russia. Of course, she will have to quarrel with her relatives, who zealously support Zelensky and Ukraine. Sometimes I’m scared to listen to them. I am amazed at their hatred. They do not believe that, starting in 2014, Ukrainian nationalists shelled Donbass and people died there. They don’t want to listen to any arguments. To be honest, I don’t know how we will get along together later.