Diary of a Vietnamese from the "fire pan" of Ukraine

“We lived and counted every minute hoping to overcome the hot moments in Ukraine. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so many fates changed and no one knew what tomorrow would bring…”.

The diary of Ho Si Truc, a Vietnamese who has lived in Kiev for many years, shares about the developments in the crisis in Ukraine.

February 20

Kiev seemed to be about to explode under the heat of the wave of protests. My chest also felt like it was about to explode from the extreme tension and anxiety. People went to the market until about 12 noon, when they heard that chaos was happening in many places in Kiev, everyone hurriedly packed up their stalls and urgently went to buy some more necessities to stock up. That evening, after the agreement between the government and the opposition, the situation calmed down but there was still a potential for conflict. People called each other to advise each other to protect themselves.

Ukraine's capital Kiev has been transformed by riots.

February 21

Almost all activities have come to a standstill because people are still afraid. The streets are deserted, shops and stores are closed. The city feels paralyzed but there are still some of our people who bravely go to the market even though the vast Troeshina market only has a few Vietnamese people opening shops standing together.

February 22

The city is back to peace, offices, schools, bus stations, shops, markets... are operating, but all transactions have almost stopped. Supermarkets are full of goods but deserted because people do not know how many days left until the food they have stocked up from the afternoon of February 20th. It is easy to see that the prices of goods have started to increase by 2-3%.

February 23

The situation is almost normal, the anxiety of the people seems to have decreased, many people, mainly the young generation, are happy with the victory of the opposition, the older generation shows less attitude because maybe despite the many events that have happened in this country, there are still no positive signs. Asking an old man at the foot of his house, he said: "New bottle - old wine", for me the important thing is that I have not received my pension for a long time, and when I receive it, I don't know how many kilos of potatoes I can buy. The Vietnamese people in the markets in Kiev all go to sell goods.

February 24

Going to the market, I saw Westerners and Vietnamese standing in groups, chatting and worrying about the uncertain future. People were telling each other that they did not know where life would lead because the situation was getting worse. The fear of conflict in Kiev had moved to Crimea, but we, the Vietnamese living here, had to worry about many other difficulties. The increase in foreign currency prices forced other goods to jump in price, and even selling goods at old prices, no one would buy, let alone new prices.

February 25

Prices continued to climb as the foreign currency was galloping, we sold goods if retail was almost not opened, wholesale was a little bit before we could recover the capital and then we were at a loss. Disappointed, everyone turned to gossip and comment on hot topics such as current events, which was also good - it turned out that everyone was still following the situation closely, even the women commented enthusiastically. There were many men who suddenly became "involuntary commentators" so sometimes the commenting turned into "war of words" in the market.

Now that Kiev has a provisional government in place, we still have to be vigilant because this is still a time of chaos. At night, local youths gather everywhere and shout as if the whole world is in their hands. In such a drunken state, it is unfortunate for foreigners to be caught by them. In the lightest cases, they will be beaten to death, in the worst cases, they may never return home.

February 26

The situation seemed to be very hot, even though the breath of war had moved to the border area. The people were once again in an uproar. Relatives who were returning to Vietnam for Tet and had not yet had time to come called, many families urged their children to quickly buy tickets to return. But the return was not simple, with children still in school, and assets accumulated over half a lifetime turned into houses, shops...

Too confused, at that time, Mr. Duy Nghia (VTV resident in the Russian Federation - PV) who was working in Kiev went to the market to visit and learn about the lives of the people, everyone felt warm and comforted that the homeland still cared and remembered the people far away from the Fatherland. It is known that when the Maidan war was at its most tense, Mr. Duy Nghia and Ms. Diep Anh (VOV) were present in the center of Kiev from February 18 to update the situation.

February 27

Today, when we went to the market, people were talking loudly again - last night, near McDonald's in Dexnhian district, an Afghan man was beaten to death. Now, the self-governing organizations still control many roads, check vehicles themselves. People still remind each other to be careful, stay at home at night.

We felt bored selling because we were miserable if we couldn’t sell anything, and sad if we could sell a little because the money kept losing value. Foreign currency was running at a high rate and if the interim government didn’t find an urgent solution, the country was at risk of secession and bankruptcy. A familiar Western customer bought a bunch of goods from me and whispered: “This is so dangerous!”. I asked: “What do you think about the current situation?”

She tearfully said: “Today, blood is being shed in Crimea again and it cannot stop there, perhaps we have no way out”. “No, sister!”, I encouraged, “Everything will end peacefully, I believe this beautiful country will have a happy ending”. Although I encouraged her, I myself and many Vietnamese people here were in turmoil because the future was uncertain.

February 28

Today, when I went to the market, I saw my relatives discussing about repatriation. A few relatives, if they had no obligations, would have booked tickets to return home. Some relatives, if they could arrange it, would return home for a while to see how the situation was. Even my wife urged me to buy tickets to return. I asked my child's teacher, there are still more than 2 months left until the end of the school year, please let my daughter return to Vietnam. If it is safe, she can come back, otherwise, she can stay home and study. Everything is like a mess, not only for the locals but also for us - the Vietnamese children struggling in the "fire pan" of Ukraine.

According to khampha.vn