Ukraine war: Boy of 11 flees to safety in Slovakia by himself

A boy has arrived safely in Slovakia after traveling some 1,200 km (750 miles) from eastern Ukraine with no more than two small bags, a passport and his relative’s phone number.

Hassan, 11, left his home in Zaporizhzhia because his mother could not leave her elderly mother.

She put him on a train and when he finally got to the border, the customs officials helped him across.

Officials said he was a true hero and wowed everyone with his smile.

The boy arrived at the border with a plastic bag, a small red backpack and his passport. He was taken in by volunteers who gave him food and drink while border officials contacted relatives in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava.

In a video posted by Slovakian police, his mother thanked everyone who had taken care of her son and explained why he had traveled around the country when it was engulfed by a Russian invasion.

“Next to my town there is a power plant that the Russians are bombing. I couldn’t leave my mother alone – she can’t move on her own – so I sent my son to Slovakia,” said Julia Pisecka, who is a widow.

The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe. It was seized by the Russian military over the weekend after an attack warned by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could cause destruction far greater than the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Hassan is one of more than two million people who have fled Russia’s war in Ukraine. More than 1.2 million have arrived in Poland, according to the latest United Nations figures, while 140,745 have reached Slovakia.

Close to tears, his mother asked for a safe haven for the children of Ukraine.

An official at Slovakia’s Interior Ministry said Hassan won over everyone at the border with his smile, fearlessness and determination.

The officer said he used a phone number on the boy’s hand and a piece of paper in his pocket to contact relatives in the Slovakian capital who came to pick him up.

Interior Minister Roman Mikulec met Hassan on Monday and said he and his siblings had already asked for temporary protection in Slovakia.

Slovak officials urged people who wanted to help the boy’s mother and grandmother to donate to the Slovak Christian Youth Association ZKSM.