Mothers Day: United States first lady pays homage to ‘resilient’ Ukrainian moms

The United States’ first lady Jill Biden honoured the Ukrainian mothers who have been battling odds to provide for their children and keep them safe in face of the ongoing war in the country.

In a tweet, Jill Biden said, “Mothers will do anything for their children — and Ukrainian mothers, like Svitlana, continue to be so strong and resilient.”

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“I am grateful to know that the Romanian people have taken these families into their homes and into their hearts,” she added in her emotional post, attaching a photo of a girl clung to her mother as Jill Biden bends down and smiles at them.

On Saturday, Biden met and heard stories from the Ukrainian women and children who fled Russia’s war and found a safe haven in Romania.

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A mother narrated her ordeal to the United States first lady of a harrowing escape after being holed up in a cramped, cold basement with her traumatised 8-year-old daughter, news agency AP reported.

Reaching Romania “was a game change for us,” Svitlana Gollyak of Kharkiv, Ukraine, told Biden in her native language during the first lady’s tour of a Bucharest public school hosting refugee children, according to reports.

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Gollyak said her daughter “feels much better here. … No more tears and she adapted very nicely.”

Visiting the school, Jill Biden said, “Really, in a lot of ways, the teachers are the glue that helps these kids deal with their trauma and deal with the emotion and help give them a sense of normalcy.”

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“Felt that there was some structure to their lives and they were getting supplies. They all realised how much money the United States has been giving to Ukraine and to the refugee situation and to Romania to support the refugees,” she added.

The first lady is on a four-day trip to Romania and Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine, that is designed to showcase US support for the refugees.

Russia declared “special military operations” in Ukraine on February 24, forcing millions out of their homes.