‘Where’s daddy?’ Men torn from families at Ukraine border as many try to flee invasion

Manny Marotta walked nearly 70 kilometres west from the Ukrainian city of Lviv to the Polish border. It took him 20 hours, and he was among thousands of people many of them families, who fled Ukraine following Thursday’s invasion by Russian troops.

Pictures taken near Lviv, Ukraine as showing a long line at a gas station as people try to flee the western city to the border. Credit: Manny Marotta

“I walked and I walked and it was pretty harrowing because not only gridlock traffic was seen, but then refugees started appearing as cars ran out of fuel…refugees began leaving their cars and walking down the street….A lot of them were Ukrainian civilians who had fled from Kyiv…that morning and they were hauling along suitcases, purses, shopping bags, duffel bags, anything. There were moms with strollers, there were grandmothers hobbling along the street. It was a human exodus involving thousands of people,” he said.

“It was just terrifying to watch this humanitarian crisis play out in real time, this huge exodus that has been unprecedented in history,” Marotta said.

Many motorists ran out of fuel trying to leave Ukraine, and were forced to walk with their belongings several kilometres to the border. Credit: Manny Marotta

Marotta, 25, had recently arrived in Ukraine from the U.S. to witness the ongoing conflict as an independent journalist and found himself in the middle of a refugee caravan. He saw heartbreaking moments as terrified families were separated.

“I saw several times fathers being pulled from their families often very tearfully and the Ukrainian army soldiers present seem to be unrepentant about it. They seem to say quite uncaringly, ‘Say goodbye quickly, we are going to put you on a bus to the east.'”

Ukrainian law now prevents men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country, as they could be conscripted to fight. Two days ago, Ukraine began calling up reservists and sending them to assist the military troops after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed martial law on the country.

An independent journalist captures the moments as he walks nearly 70 km to Poland from Lviv to flee the conflict. Credit: Manny Marotta

Marotta says he made friends with a 24-year-old man named Max while they were walking.

“He said that he was going to try and get out anyway, even though this order had come through,” Marotta recalled of their conversation.

But, he says, suddenly a man with a loudspeaker made an announcement that all 18- to 60-year-old men would not be allowed to leave.

“This commissar pulled him aside and said, ‘come with us.’ He looked at us one last time and he just smiled this weird, not weird, but it was sort of like a disbelief smile, and he was pulled away. I don’t know where he is. I hope safe,” he said.

Interview excerpt with Max. He had to leave the line because of conscription orders during the interview. pic.twitter.com/5rrvHvyrYo

— Ukraine Conflict Live 2022 (@UkraineLive2022) February 25, 2022

He says many people made it across. Though it did not snow, it is still winter and many were cold.

“But there was cold people [who] were dressing themselves and making anything that they could. They were wrapping themselves in blankets and children took it particularly poorly. They cried, there was lots of sobbing, there was lots of ‘where’s daddy?'”

“This was my view as I crossed into Poland at 7:01 AM local time this morning. I feel that it was a welcome gift from nature. I’m so inconsolably happy to be in the EU,” Marotta wrote on Twitter Feb. 24, 2022.

Canada’s embassy was relocated to Lviv after explosions rocked Kyiv, the capital city. All remaining delegates were evacuated to Poland Thursday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to help Ukrainians and those Canadians who have family in Ukraine through a new hotline.

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• ‘Fortress Russia’: Will sanctions work? Expert says Kremlin has been self-isolating

• How can I help Ukraine? A list of Canadian organizations offering relief

As of Friday morning, more than 130 Ukrainians have been killed, according to the president. There are claims more than 400 Russians have been killed but the Kremlin denies those reports, saying it has suffered no casualties.