‘They just picked us up now, I’m fine’ - Irish student’s journey home fleeing Ukraine

Irish medical student Racheal Diyaolu from Carlow who was stranded in northeastern Ukraine has finally started her journey back to Ireland.

The family say the 19-year-old was feeling “hopeless” after a planned evacuation to get her to the Polish border failed on Sunday.

Racheal's sister Christiana Diyaolu said her family hoped her younger sister would get out of the northeastern university city of Sumy with the help of two British men driving Ukrainian refugees to the Polish border.

Racheal and two friends were scheduled to be collected at 7am local time on Sunday but the two volunteers reportedly had to turn back because their vehicle had been shot at by Russian military.

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Racheal Diyaolu told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland that she was fine and was now travelling with two Scottish men who had offered Racheal and her friends a lift after learning of their plight.

“They came back today, they just picked us up now. I’m fine,” Racheal said.

The medical student added that they will now attempt to drive to Poland, a journey that would normally take 17 hours, but would now take longer as she was not certain of their route or if they could take the proposed humanitarian corridors.

Racheal said that conditions in Sumy, which is 70 km from the Russian border, had been worsening in recent days. This was the medical student’s second attempt at escaping and she had to leave most of her belongings behind. Despite this, she said she was trying to stay positive.

Her sister Christiana said the family was so happy that Racheal was now on her way and they were hoping for the best. They hope to keep in touch with her on the journey to Poland and if necessary, travel to Poland to bring her home to Ireland.

“We will keep in contact as much as possible.”

Passage

The two sisters arranged the passage to the Polish border after contacting the British men, who have been posting on TikTok through the “ready2rocklandscaping” account about the individual evacuations they’re carrying out across Ukraine.

However, by Sunday afternoon Racheal was back in her university accommodation as Russian forces continued to shell the city for the 10th day.

“She’s fine in the sense that she’s doing her best to remain positive, she’s very brave and a strong girl,” Christiana told The Irish Times.

“At the beginning she was hopeful but as the days go on, and the situation gets worse, she’s getting more hopeless. She’s at a loss of what to do now,” she said before her sister escaped.

“Her safety is our number one priority and we’ve been doing our best to find a means to get her out of the country.”

Racheal is one of the 52 Irish citizens in Ukraine registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) who are still in the country, according to the department. The Government continues to advise “all Irish citizens currently in Ukraine to shelter in a secure place,” a department spokeswoman said. “If they judge it safe to do so, citizens should consider leaving Ukraine, depending on their location and prevailing circumstances.”

Racheal was sheltering with hundreds of other foreign students, the majority of whom are Nigerian, along with others from the UK, Ghana, Ethiopia, Angola, Tanzania, Lebanon and Turkey.

Some 700 Indian students are also stranded at the university, according to reports from the Indian media.

Racheal is worried about reports Asian and African students are being refused entry into Poland and Romania. "Although my sister is an Irish citizen, people on the border will see her skin colour before they question where she's from. It's terrifying she might be turned away if she does eventually get to a border after going through such an ordeal."

Difficult

Racheal says her family appreciates how difficult it is for the Irish Government to evacuate a citizen so close to the Russian border – Sumy lies about 40km from Russia – but does not know where else to turn for help.

Asked about Racheal’s situation, the DFA said it would not comment on the details of a specific consular case.

“My parents aren’t great, they’re contacting the DFA every day and they’re speaking to local TDs in Carlow. But they also have to work – my dad works six days a week and my mum works too. We’ve gotten a lot of support in the sense of kind words and prayers but there’s still no active plan.”

“I completely understand how tricky the situation is but if they could just exercise or use any efforts they have available to get them out. These students are innocent, they don’t deserve to be there, they deserve to be with their families. We just want Racheal home,” Christiana said.