Afghan refugee in Ukraine flees second conflict in six months

Masouma Tajik is trying to leave Ukraine after escaping the Taliban last year

Masouma Tajik celebrated her birthday the day before the Russian invasion began. Photo: Masouma Tajik

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It was Masouma Tajik’s birthday on Wednesday. The Afghan refugee spent the day alone, wandering the streets of Lviv, trying to make it the best day she could in her new home.

“I got a small cake, and made a wish for a home, a place where I can put up my bookshelf and grow my plants,” said Ms Tajik, who fled Afghanistan's Herat to escape the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August last year.

“I was happy yesterday and this morning I woke up to bomb sirens,” she said.

Ms Tajik one of 94 Afghans brought to Ukraine during the chaotic evacuation that followed the withdrawal of the US troops. Now, a mere six months later, she is facing another conflict in her host country.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday, days after recognising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine as independent territories.

Over the past 48-hours, Russian troops have captured several key territories in Ukraine while launching co-ordinated air strikes and ground attacks on the capital.

The strikes and ground invasion have caused thousands to flee. Ms Tajik joined thousands of Ukrainians, in disbelief over the escalating violence, and moved from Kiev to the western city of Lviv, with the hopes of escaping yet another war.

“I didn’t think it would happen so fast here,” she said. “This is Europe.”

She added that the environment in the city bore a striking similarity to the Taliban siege of Kabul.

A Ukrainian soldier walks past the shell of a burnt military vehicle, on a street in Kiev. AP

A screengrab from CCTV footage shows a missile hitting a residential building in Kiev. Reuters

A man inspects a broken window, after shelling carried out by Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military centre as two cars burn on a street in Kiev. AP

Medical specialists transport a woman, who was wounded in the shelling of an apartment building, to an ambulance, as her husband looks on. Reuters

A woman outside her apartment building after it was damaged by a rocket, in Kiev. AP

A Ukrainian police officer detains a driver on a street in Kiev. AP

A soldier's helmet with a bullet hole on a street in the Ukrainian capital. AP

Ukrainian soldiers walk by a damaged vehicle, at the site of fighting with Russian troops, in Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian policemen move parrots to safety after a high-rise apartment block was damaged by shelling in Kiev. EPA

A screengrab from a video shows rescue workers carrying a person at the site of a damaged multi-storey residential building, south-west of the Ukrainian capital. Reuters

A building damaged by shelling carried out by Russian troops in Kiev. EPA

Helga Tarasova comforts her daughter Kira Shapovalova as they wait in an underground shelter during a bombing alert in Kiev. AFP

A man walks past a building damaged by a rocket attack in the Ukrainian capital. AP

Emergency services workers near an apartment building damaged by shelling in Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers collect unexploded shells in the capital. AFP

An apartment building damaged by shelling in Kiev. Reuters

Debris of a burnt military truck on a street in Kiev. AP

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Servicemen from the Ukrainian National Guard in central Kiev. Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers in downtown Kiev after Russian troops reached the outskirts of the capital. AP Photo

Police officers detain demonstrators in St. Petersburg, Russia. Hundreds of people gathered in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Thursday, protesting against Russia's attack on Ukraine. Similar protests took place in other Russian cities, and activists were also arrested. AP Photo

Hungarian troops in Vasarosnameny, close to the border with Ukraine, prepare to help refugees. AP Photo

Wrecked Russian army rocket launchers in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

The aftermath of a rocket attack in Kiev. AP Photo

A US Air Force jet refuels over Poland. Reuters

Devastation after shelling in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. Reuters

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Firefighters tackle a blaze in a building in Kiev. AFP

The wreckage of an unidentified aircraft in a residential area in Kiev. Reuters

Smoke rises near the Ukrainian Defence Ministry in Kiev. Reuters

Russian military helicopters fly over the Ukrainian capital. AP

An anxious wait to board a train to leave Kiev as the attack loomed. AP Photo

Ukrainian servicemen on tanks in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo

Ukraine troops said this destroyed armoured vehicle outside Kharkiv belonged to the Russian army. Reuters

Rescuers at the crash site after a Ukraine armed forces Antonov aircraft was shot down in Kiev, according to the Ukrainian authorities. Reuters

Ukrainian tanks that aim to repel an attack by the Russian military in the Luhansk enclave of Ukraine. AFP

A Ukrainian State Border Guard Service base is ablaze after heavy shelling near Kiev. Reuters

Damaged radar at a Ukrainian military plant outside Mariupol. Officials in Kiev say Russian troops have rolled into the country from the north, east and south. AP Photo

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A traffic jam in Kiev, with many Ukrainians leaving their capital after Russian troops entered. EPA

The Border Service of Ukraine released CCTV footage purporting to show Russian military vehicles passing a checkpoint to drive into Crimea. AP

A man picks up fragments of military materiel on the street after an apparent Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP

Workers load the debris of a rocket on to a lorry in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kiev. AP

Emergency staff treat an injured man after bombing in Chuguiv. AFP

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People in a rush near Kiev-Pasazhyrskyi railway station in the Ukrainian capital. AFP

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The aftermath of bombing in Chuguiv. AFP

A Ukrainian rocket launcher vehicle prepares for action. Reuters

Cars are driven across a field to leave the city of Kharkiv. Reuters

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People with many of their belongings packed take shelter in a Metro station in Kiev. AFP

Emergency services at the scene of an explosion at a military unit building in Kiev. EPA

A Kiev resident sweeps up debris after Russian shelling. AP

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More damage from shelling in Kiev. AP

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A woman carries her cats in a quest for a safe haven. AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds an urgent government meeting in Kiev to discuss the next step. AFP

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell give a joint statement in Brussels, updating the press about the situation in Ukraine. EPA

People survey the damage after bombing in Chuguiv. AFP

A building on fire in Chuguiv. AFP

“The city changed overnight, just like Kabul on the night before the Taliban came. Everywhere there is a silence and fear. I went to withdraw money today but there is no cash in banks, just like in Kabul on August 15,” she said.

As a young working professional from the persecuted Hazara ethnicity, Ms Tajik faced immense pressure when the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

“I am the only breadwinner of my family. When I heard they were coming, I knew they would restrict my freedoms and rights, they wouldn’t let me work or even leave the house. I was worried of how I would continue to work or support my family, and if they hurt me, who would take care of my siblings?”

Ms Tajik has continued to worked remotely since leaving Afghanistan and still supports her family.

“I wanted to survive because seven other lives depend on my survival,” she said.

As the bombings continue, the young Afghan in exile is now looking for safe passage once more.

“I escaped Herat when the Taliban took over and came to Kabul. I thought I was safe there. But then they came to Kabul, and I had to leave and came to Kiev. Then I had to leave Kiev and came to Lviv because things seemed to be getting worse. And now I am looking for ways to leave here too,” she said.

But Ms Tajik is determined to not give up.

“I have worked so hard to be who I am. I want to study further. I have already been accepted to universities in the US with full scholarship. Things will improve, it can’t end all in nothing,” she said optimistically, sharing her plans to move to the borders of Ukraine to seek help from neighbouring nations.

“All of us girls who have seen war, we don’t want much. Just an opportunity to make our place in this world. That’s not a lot to ask.”