Ukrainian woman arrives in Turkiye after losing house to Russian bombing

By Gokhan Zobar

EDIRNE, Turkiye (AA) - A Ukrainian woman, who lost the roof on her head due to Russian bombing in Ukraine, has arrived in Turkiye with her 3-year-old daughter.

Victoria Kormaz said she is happy to be in Turkiye with her daughter, Aylin. Her husband works in the Turkish capital Ankara.

She said she had two houses in Ukraine's cities of Kharkiv and Chuhuiv. Both of them were destroyed in Russian bombing.

The mother and daughter stayed at a bomb shelter for several days before taking the long and tiring journey across Ukraine through Romania and Bulgaria and finally to Turkiye.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Kormaz said they saw the most painful face of the war.

My daughter is "a little hero" for surviving the worst, she said.

"People die, houses are bombed, 80 children died from the attacks. It's a very scary situation, very difficult to describe in words what we went through there," she said.

"My daughter was terrified of explosions. We waited for days to get out of there, and finally we are here in Turkiye," Kormaz added.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international condemnation, led to financial sanctions on Moscow, and spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.

At least 691 civilians have been killed and 1,143 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to UN estimates.

More than 3 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN.