Pittsburgher who walked from Ukraine to Poland shares stories of war refugees

A Pittsburgh-based journalist is one of hundreds of thousands of people who have fled Ukraine in response to Russian military strikes and aggression, and he did so by walking 45 miles from Lviv to neighboring Poland.

“I am not going to pretend like I was brave. I was terrified,” Manny Marotta, 25, said in an interview from Krakow, Poland.

Marotta is an independent journalist who lives in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019. He traveled to Ukraine three weeks ago to cover the conflict in the eastern Donbas region, but as war became more imminent, he relocated from Kyiv to Lviv, a city near Ukraine’s western border with Poland.

While in Lviv on Feb. 24, Russia sent strikes all over Ukraine, including explosions about 20 miles outside of Lviv.

Marotta said he didn’t hear the explosions but was awoken by sirens and decided then to leave the country. He said trains and buses weren’t running and car rentals and ride-shares weren’t available, overloaded by demand from others seeking to flee.

So, Marotta said he decided to walk the 45 miles to Poland — the equivalent of walking from Pittsburgh to Steubenville, Ohio. When he got onto the road, he joined hundreds of others also making the journey by foot.

Marotta said the group made its way through the countryside. At gas stations along the way, he said lines of cars were attempting to fill up but no gas was available. The caravan on foot grew as people left their vehicles and joined the group.

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He said many of the Ukrainians weren’t dressed appropriately for the wintry conditions, likely because they had fled hastily. Marotta said no food was available, nor was the prospect of using a toilet. Marotta, who speaks basic Russian and several other languages, said he talked with many children along the journey who didn’t appear to understand why they had to leave Ukraine on foot.

“It was heartbreaking to see these families forced to walk 40 miles with inadequate clothes,” Marotta said. “They didn’t even know why their country was at war. It was so sad to watch. They were trying to leave Ukraine as fast as possible.”

After 16 to 20 hours of walking, the hundreds of people in Marotta’s party reached the border with Poland. Thousands of other people looking to get out of the country already were there.

Shortly before strikes were heard and seen outside of several Ukrainian cities, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine. This came two days after Russia moved troops into two eastern Ukrainian regions.

Putin has justified the moves by saying the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had encroached too close to Russia, and he has said in the past he believes Ukrainians and Russians are “one nation.” Dozens of countries, including the United States, have condemned Putin’s decision to invade and applied strict sanctions on Russia in response.

Since the invasion, Ukraine has conscripted many males to fight.

Marotta said he saw several men pulled from lines at the border and along the roads to be conscripted, even as families pleaded and objected.

“On the journey, the Ukrainian army told them about the conscription, and then the men were just pulled out of line or walked out of line,” Marotta said. “The kids didn’t want their dads to be taken away. It was just so sad to watch.”

When they reached the border, officials were letting in about 10 people every 20 minutes. It took hours for Marotta to get through. He was sent to a refugee facility with eight other Ukrainians.

Marotta described children as being confused and young adults as being scared. He said older people told him the situation reminded them of times when Ukraine was under Soviet control.

“There was no sense of happiness,” Marotta said. “It was all despair.”

Eventually, Marotta made it to the city of Przemysl in eastern Poland. From there, he was able to travel to Krakow, where he said there are few signs of war.

He urged Pittsburghers to donate to established aid organizations. Marotta has spoken to several news outlets about his grim journey, but he is glad to be able to help share the stories of Ukrainian refugees.

“Don’t feel bad for me,” he said. “Feel bad for the people who lost everything.”

The United Nations estimates at least 500,000 people have fled Ukraine in response to the Russian military strikes and aggression. Marotta fears this could be only the beginning, with millions more Ukrainians expected to flee.

You can follow Marotta on Twitter @MannyMarotta.