In Photos: Romanian Orthodox Church Offers Relief To Refugees Fleeing The War In Ukraine

A priest offers a blanket to a refugee at the relief point organized by the Romanian Orthodox Church. They also offered warm beverages, food, toiletries, diapers and warm clothes while people wait for transportation to be arranged to their respective accommodation places. Photo by Alexandra Radu

SIRET, Romania— Since the recent Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 1 million refugees have fled the violence to neighboring countries, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Nearly 140,000 have crossed the Romanian border.

At Siret, one of the main border crossings from Ukraine to Romania, the atmosphere is hectic, with hundreds of everyday volunteers and those representing the Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations offering relief to the people arriving from Ukraine. Many arrive after days-long journeys and tens of hours spent in a car or pedestrian queues at the Ukrainian border.

The Rev. Gheorghe Lupu, from Gura Humorului, 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Siret, came to help with a team of three translators from villages in his area. Between making phone calls to arrange transportation and accommodation or installing Romanian SIM cards in Ukrainian phones, he barely had time to exchange a few words.

“Our first priority is to find out what are the needs of the people, to know how to guide them,” he told ReligionUnplugged.com. “Some of them need to find their relatives. Some of them need transportation. Others need Romanian road tax for their cars or phone sim cards. That's why we brought translators, and there are even two persons that recently crossed the border from Ukraine and offered to help us translate.”

Lupu is part of the bigger relief initiative set up by the Romanian Orthodox Church through its regional branch, the Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti. Along with local nonprofits and private initiatives, the Orthodox Church is at the front line of the response to the Ukrainian crisis, having established a base at the Siret border crossing from the first day of the conflict.

Dozens of meters stretched away from the border into Romania, volunteers with warm beverages and food offer a first welcome and relief to the thousands of people entering Romania each hour. Translators guide them to tents installed by the emergency inspectorate that offer temporary shelter from the cold, or to buses leaving for various cities. Many of the people arriving plan to travel further, but they are exhausted and disoriented after the long journey and need temporary accommodation.

Oksana, 33, and her daughter Solomia, 3, are one of the families hosted at the hermitage. After a few days of rest and planning, they will continue their journey, as they plan to reach Belgium. Photo by Alexandra Radu

Other volunteers — like the priests, nuns and parishioners that man the church's relief points — arrange transportation and accommodation, organize people into cars and offer toiletries, diapers and basic medicine before sending them to their accommodations.

“There is a continuous influx of people coming and going — in many cases they are only transiting the Romanian territory,” said the Rev. Alexandru Morosanu from the Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti, whom I met at the church's relief tent at Siret.

“We host them in institutions under the wing of the Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti that can offer optimal accommodation, like various parishes, monasteries, where we have accommodation centers which the church usually uses for social cases or occasional visitors.”

Ania and Vlada, both age 6, became friends at the hermitage where both their families are hosted. They spend time playing together in the dining hall around lunch time, with their mothers busy in the nearby kitchen. Photo by Alexandra Radu

Nataly Masechko, 30, arrived at the Siret border crossing from her hometown — Ivano-Frankivsk, situated in southwest Ukraine, 183 kilometers (114 miles) from Siret. She spent 62 hours in the 6-kilometer car queue on the Ukrainian side of the Siret border crossing.

“For me, these 62 hours were normal because I know that back in Kharkiv, my friends spent these hours in the shelter,” she told ReligionUnplugged.com. “We had cases of pregnancies delivering in the shelter, so here, slowly moving in the line, is better than there, listening to the sound of the bombs.”

Entering Romania at 6 a.m., Masechko felt surprised. “I was crying two times from the support that we are offered because we understand that now we are in a different country,” she said. “You have your own problems, but now you are helping us guys, and this is really nice. Thank you for that.” She was offered accommodation at Acoperamantul Maicii Domnului hermitage, situated not far from the border.

Leaving Ukraine, Masechko felt a heavy heart for not staying to help her country.

“When 2014 started, I was working in the mountains, and I wasn't volunteering,” she said. “I didn't go to the east — I only volunteered one night. So I felt like I should do something and help as I can, and now I was just leaving. But on the other side, I understood that I cannot be productive if I am not safe, so we decided to come here.” Masechko traveled with a friend, who continued her way through Romania to Poland.

Nataly Masechko (right), herself a recent Ukrainian refugee, helps a refugee who just arrived in Romania with directions and instructions for installing a Romanian phone SIM card. Photo by Alexandra Radu

After a hot shower and a few hours sleep, Masechko made a plan to volunteer at the hermitage and make the transition easier for the mothers and children hosted there. She organized a playing group for the several children hosted at the hermitage. “We do gymnastics, we have parties, we dance — it is fun,” she said. She also helps clean dishes at the kitchen, where other Ukrainian women and the monk in charge of cooking prepare food for everyone.

“Being so close to the border, we receive a lot of calls,” said Father Gherasim, from the hermitage. “For example, last night at 3 and 4 a.m. we received people.” Usually only a few people visit the hermitage, run by only three monks who also continue to perform daily prayers, attended by some of the refugees. So far, since the recent Russian invasion began, the small hermitage has hosted more than 100 refugees.

The families hosted at the Acoperamantul Maicii Domnului hermitage pray together with the local monks before having lunch. Photo by Alexandra Radu

“There is a Ukrainian lady which we are hosting who helps us at the kitchen,” Father Gherasim said. “In her hometown she had a restaurant. We are trying our best to help everyone. Mother of God helps us and gives us strength.”

Alexandra Radu is a photojournalist based in Bucharest, Romania. She has been published in Al Jazeera, the New York Times, Religion News Service, Reuters and AP, and her images have won awards at the Religion News Association Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence in 2017, 2018 and 2019.