Ukrainian Teenager Documents Life As A Refugee 6 Months After Russian Invasion Began
She hopes her home will be restored some day.
TikTok Ukrainian teenager, Valeria Shashenok’s life was turned upside down when Russia's invasion of her home country began and missiles started to claim the lives of thousands of innocent civilians — including her cousin.
After evacuating Ukraine, Shashenok has spent a lot of time traveling and living in different countries across Europe and has decided to post videos of her journey.
Valeria Shashenok posts TikToks regularly to describe her life as a Ukrainian refugee.
With over 1.3 million followers on TikTok and many, frequently viral videos, Shashenok uses her account on the platform as a sort of video journal to allow others on her journey as a Ukrainian refugee.
Most recently announcing that she was at the European Parliament, which is headquartered in Strasbourg, France, Shashenok has been all over Europe — not because she wants to, but because she has to.
Earlier this month, before her trip to France, Shashenok was living in Germany, where it seems she has been staying for a while.
Before that, she lived in Italy for a time and even spent time in Austria.
Some of her videos consist of TikToks titled “My Typical Day As A Refugee” in whatever country she’s in, letting people know what she’s up to and what it’s like to be displaced by war.
In Germany, she’s spent a lot of time going to events hosted for Ukrainian refugees, like one that was about cultural diplomacy.
She’s been in business meetings for the book she’s written about her life, and has detailed conversations she’s had with interesting people like a couple who lived in “past-Soviet states.”
In Italy, she was lucky enough to live with relatives since she’s half-Italian.
She spent time with her father, ate pasta, hung out with her best friend, and visited the Ukrainian embassy to gain access to resources and information for refugees.
While many people in her comments criticize her for the more fortunate position she’s in, she also highlights the reality of her current situation.
In between Shashenok’s posts about her life as a refugee, she talks about the tragedies that are still currently unfolding in Ukraine.
She claims that people in Mariupol, Ukraine, are forced to drink water from puddles.
There are apartments and entire buildings that remain without windows as millions of refugees remain unhoused.
She regularly visits her family in Ukraine outside of the areas of contention and they tell her of the struggles they endure just to get food on the table.
Shashenok regularly shares how much she misses her home, and how much she wishes she could live there now — expressing her hatred for Putin and his invasion of her home country.
After her trip to the European Parliament where she met the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, she joked that people would soon be able to vote her into the European Union’s legislative body, vowing in her next TikTok that she would change the world.
Ukraine desperately needs our support in the face of this humanitarian crisis.
If you want to help provide medical supplies and emergency care to the people of Ukraine, you can donate to the Ukrainian Red Cross here or to United Help Ukraine here.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.