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Reuters

Politics

Clodagh Kilcoyne and Luiza Ilie

Romanian monks welcome Ukrainian refugees at medieval monastery

Romania Ukraine Svetlana

Romanian Orthodox monk, Father Mikhail, departs after the mass at the Church in Putna Monastery, Putna, Romania, March 8, 2022. During the mass, blessings were also given for Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing amid Russia's invasion. Picture taken March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

When 75-year-old Svetlana and her family from the city of Krivoy Rog in central Ukraine reached the snow-covered Putna Monastery in the rolling hills of northeastern Romania, they had been on the road for four days.

The monks living at the remote 15th century Romanian Orthodox monastery, a pilgrimage site that sits in a valley covered in dense forest, have opened its doors to people like Svetlana who have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries in their millions since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24.

Romanian Orthodox monk, Father Hieromonk Iosaf, enters the Church at Putna Monastery, in Putna, Romania, March 8, 2022. During the mass, blessings were also given for Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing the country, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Picture taken March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Of those, more than 400,000 people have already crossed into Romania, and numbers are expected to rise as Russia continues what it calls a "special operation" to demilitarise and "deNazify" Ukraine. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice.

Svetlana left her home city with her daughter Anna, 6-year-old grandson Maksim and two other female relatives. Anna's husband and her two siblings stayed behind, helping with humanitarian aid.

"We would go home in a second, our souls are so heavy," Svetlana said. "We are sorry we had to separate from our family. Right now we feel fear and confusion, we don't know what to do next."

Locals leave after a Romanian Orthodox mass in the Church at Putna Monastery, which is housing people fleeing Ukraine amid Russia's invasion, in Putna, Romania, March 8, 2022. Picture taken March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

As she wept, Father Gherasim Soca quietly embraced and comforted her. Later that day, villagers braved a snow storm to attend a service at which monks prayed for the people of Ukraine inside the large stone church with shimmering icons.

"The majority of people want to reach their final destination, usually somewhere in the west, as soon as possible, and if they can, they choose to spend the night near the border towns," said Father Gherasim.

"Putna is a little more remote, but for those who are not in a rush, they are not crowded here, each family have their own room. I see them go to church and praying, getting comfort, it helps a lot."

Romanian Orthodox Monks, Father Sofian and Father Dosoftei, discuss logistics at their hospitality tent in Siret, Romania, March 13, 2022. Orthodox monks have a permanent presence at the Siret border providing food, clothes, supplies and accommodation to refugees who have fled Ukraine amid Russia's invasion. Picture taken March 13, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

(Open to see picture package on the monastery)

More than 412,000 Ukrainians have fled to Romania, where thousands of volunteers, churches, non-governmental organisations and government agencies are providing food, shelter, clothes and transportation.

In northeast Romania, the Suceava and Rădăuți Orthodox Archdiocese has offered hundreds of beds in monasteries as well as parish houses. They also have a permanent presence at the Siret border and adjacent train station including priests and monks who speak Ukrainian or Russian, offering food and help.

Romanian Orthodox priest, Rotar Georgian, prepares food for refugees who fled Ukraine amid Russia's invasion, in the waiting hall of Suceava train station, Suceava, Romania, March 14, 2022. Orthodox monks have a permanent presence at the train station including priests and monks who speak Ukrainian or Russian, offering food and help. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

"A large part of Ukrainians are going to relatives who work abroad," said Father Alexandru Flavian Sava, the archdiocese's spokesman. "To them, it is more comforting to move on than stop so close to the border and the violence beyond."

Father Gherasim said roughly 100 people, mostly women and children, have so far taken shelter at Putna.

Among them was a couple who ran with their baby from Ivano-Frankivsk. The father used his dual Romanian passport to leave, as Ukrainian men of conscription age are not allowed to.

People sit near food which has been left for Ukrainian refugees, who fled amid Russia's invasion, in the waiting hall at Suceava train station, Suceava, Romania, March 14, 2022. Orthodox monks have a permanent presence at the train station, including priests and monks who speak Ukrainian or Russian, offering food and help. Picture taken March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

"We have a little girl, we left because we are afraid for us and her," said the father, who wished to remain anonymous. He said they came to stay at Putna before running further west because they had visited before.

"We're afraid because we don't know how it will end."

(Reporting by Clodagh Kilcoyne and Luiza Ilie; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)