Mother who fled Ukraine says it's 'world's fight for freedom'

Yuliya Tychkivska travelled to Romania with her three children as husband stayed behind to fight

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates- Yuliya Tychkivska, Executive Director,The Aspen Institute Kyiv spekaing at the Forbes 30/50 Summit at the Louvre, Abu Dhabi. Ruel Pableo for The National

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Yuliya Tychkivska is one of the 1.5 million who have been displaced from Ukraine following the Russian attack over the past 10 days.

Taking refuge in Romania as her husband battles on the front line in their home country, the 33-year-old has to take care of her three young children alone.

She is uncertain where she will go next.

Speaking at the Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Ms Tychkivska, the executive director of The Aspen Institute Kyiv, said she does not consider herself a refugee, more an ambassador of freedom.

This war is not just about Ukraine. My people, my husband, my father, my brothers, they are fighting not only for Ukraine’s independence, they are fighting for Europe’s peace and the world’s freedom

Yuliya Tychkivska,
The Aspen Institute Kyiv

“We don’t call it conflict, we call it war because it is a war. This is not just a conflict any more,” she said.

“A week ago my operational director called me, she was crying and asking for help.

“She is from a city that has been 92 per cent destroyed. The city is destroyed. She was crying and begging me to help her get there [so she could] bury her mother who was lying dead in their garden.

“It was bombed when the people defended their city.”

Travelling regularly from Kyiv to Abu Dhabi for business meetings, Ms Tychkivska said this latest trip filled her with guilt as the war continues to rage in her home country. But she felt it was important to come and describe what civilians like her are experiencing.

“Regularly, I would come [to Abu Dhabi] from Kyiv, my home city where I live, where my kids live, but today I travelled from Romania,” she said.

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“As a mother of three kids … I needed to go to a safer place to make it less stressful for my children.

“This war is not just about Ukraine. My people, my husband, my father, my brothers, they are fighting not only for Ukraine’s independence, they are fighting for Europe’s peace and the world’s freedom.

“It’s about democratic values and freedom.”

Ms Tychkivska, a Forbes “Under 30" lister in 2018, has spent her life in Kyiv promoting liberty, open government and free markets through her own think tank, the Aspen Institute.

Now, she is without a home and without her husband. Like many men, he left his nine-to-five job to fight with the Ukrainian military when Russian troops moved into the country.

With hopes of crossing the border into Poland with her children in the coming days, she said she has seen “chief executives, entrepreneurs and people of all wealth and backgrounds” sleeping in shelters and metro stations as “explosion after explosion” ravages the country.

“I would like all of you to understand that you could live in a European city one day and next day it could be bombed,” she said.

“My children, they are 2, 4 and 6, they are crying every day and praying their father is not killed.”

On Monday, the UAE sent a plane carrying 30 tonnes of emergency medical supplies for civilians in Ukraine.

The aid was sent in response to the international humanitarian appeal to support displaced Ukrainians and refugees in neighbouring countries.

The plane landed in Lublin and the aid was handed over to Ukrainian authorities in Poland from where it will be sent to people in need.