Devastating.
A Ukrainian couple who arrived in Dublin after they fled from Kyiv have been left with more tragedy when their car was broken into and a lot of their belongings were taken.
28 year olds Anass and Olena drove more than 3,000km to get to Ireland from the Ukrainian capital when Russia invaded on February 24th.
They packed all of their belongings into their car and just started driving, making their way to the Slovakian border and eventually found safety in Ireland.
Anass said that after their 15 day journey through Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany and France, they were given nothing but kindness in Ireland up until now.
Staying at the Travelodge in Ballymun with other refugees, they had put a lot of their belongings in their car as they planned to travel to hotel in Cork on Thursday morning.
Anass told The Mirror: “We were asleep and someone smashed a window and broke into our car in the underground parking lot of the shielding centre late on Wednesday night or early on Thursday.
https://t.co/5vzV9GsTGj our site with all the info for helping Ukrainians in Ireland / інформація і допомога від українців Ірландії на офіційному сайті громади
— Ukrainian Community in Ireland (@UkraineIreland) March 14, 2022
“They took most of our belongings, clothes, shoes, a laptop, a tablet, which was all we could carry when we left Kyiv under the sounds of bombings.
“This is the last thing we would expect to happen in Ireland after the people here have been nothing but good to us.”
Gardai have since carried out a forensic examination of the scene and found blood and CCTV footage of the perpetrator.
Anass was most shocked as whoever did this could see the Ukrainian reg plates and it was obvious they were refugees, something she said was “inhumane” to do.
The couple are now more worried about Olena’s parents, in their late 50s, who are near Luhansk and they have not been able to reach them for the last two weeks.
Anass said the city is now Russian controlled territory and Ukrainian people are being forced to either fight or be killed.
The couple has set up a GoFundMe and are asking the Irish public to help get them back on their feet.
