What Is in This Book Leaving Ukraine 4 My Homeland Ukraine 6 Miron’s Story Before the Bombs 8 Protests and War 10 Miron’s Story In Hiding 12 Living Through the Conflict 14 Miron’s Story Too Dangerous to Stay 16 Battles and Ceasefires 18 Miron’s Story City of Refuge 20 Where to Flee 22 Miron’s Story Building a New Life 24 Challenges Refugees Face 26 You Can Help 28 Glossary 30 Learning More 31 Index and About the Author 32
Leaving Ukraine Where would you go if fighting broke out in your country How would you know who to trust to keep you safe Ukraine is a country in eastern Europe Since 2014 the eastern part of the country has been a battleground Ukrainian government troops are fighting forces that support its neighbor Russia Thousands of people have been killed or have gone missing in the conflict Russia has taken control of land that used to belong to Ukraine This region is called Crimea Part of a Ukrainian region in eastern Ukraine called Donetsk Oblast has broken away from the country It has declared itself independent Belarus Ukraine borders many countries and the Black Sea Kiev is its capital Donetsk is a city in the region of Donetsk Oblast Russia Poland Slovakia Hungary 4 Romania Kiev Ukraine Moldova Crimea Black Sea Turkey Donetsk Donetsk Oblast
UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights of children all over the world Think about these rights as you read this book As part of its training the Ukraine army practices martial arts Many people have left eastern Ukraine because of the fighting They fear for their lives Most have become internally displaced persons IDPs This means they have moved to safer areas of the same country Others have left Ukraine to live in Russia or other neighboring countries They are refugees Refugees are people who flee their homeland because of unsafe conditions Refugees are different from immigrants Immigrants choose to leave to look for better opportunities in another country This is the flag of the Donetsk region which is now called the Donetsk People’s Republic 5
