He 'drove for 12 hours to save us': One man's efforts to transport Ukrainian refugees to safety
As of Friday, more than 57,000 Ukrainian refugees have fled to Romania to escape the dangers brought on by the Russian invasion, according to data from the U.N. Refugee Agency.
Many were brought there with the help of Paval Dragos-florin.
The 34-year-old from Focsani, Romania, was scrolling through Facebook last week when he came across a post looking for help for a group of refugees escape Odesa, Ukraine. Dragos-florin, the owner of a small transportation company with two vehicles at his disposal, decided to step up.
“That’s how it started,” he told USA TODAY through a translator. “I have the resources, I have the time. Let's just do it."
After completing his first trip, he has yet to slow down. Ukraine has become too dangerous to enter, but Dragos-florin and other drivers continue to shuttle refugees from the border to the airport or centers that offer refugees assistance. He said he has rented 10 buses with the help of financial donations to help carry the refugees.
“As long we have funds for the buses, gas and drivers, we will continue to do it,” he said.
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Dragos-florin’s first rescue trip into Ukraine was in a nine-person van on Feb. 25, when he and another driver shuttled six people and two cats out of Odesa.
“It’s very risky because at every street corners are road blockades and heavy artillery,” he said. “It’s scary.”
Bodi Klamph, a Canadian citizen, was one of the passengers on the ride.
Klamph had lived in Ukraine for five years before Russia began its invasion. When he learned the country was being attacked, he decided to find a way out for himself, his girlfriend and her mom.
Klamph’s mother posted on a Facebook group created to assist Ukrainian refugees and found someone who connected Klamph to Dragos-florin.
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Klamph said Dragos-florin drove his group and three other refugees through villages on muddy back roads, swerving around ditches and avoiding roads they knew were unsafe.
“I found (the driver) to be extraordinarily heroic,” Klamph said. “He's coming into a war zone to pick up strangers for free. … This guy for no reason drove for 12 hours to save us.”
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The group finally reached the border after a six-hour drive, only to be met with a line of cars nearly 2 miles long waiting to cross into Romania by ferry. Klamph, his girlfriend and her mother were able to finish the trip to the ferry on foot. Dragos-florin, who remained in the van, said the line took about 20 hours to get through.
The entire trip lasted about 56 hours, he said, but that didn't stop him from taking a second trip into Ukraine.
'Taking them out of the war zone'
People on Facebook continued to connect Dragos-florin to Ukrainians in need. On Monday, he rented a 50-person bus to fit more refugees and said he was able to bring 47 people – including 24 children – across the border from Odesa.
“At that point, nobody wanted to drive with (me) because it was very dangerous, with the explosions and all of that. Nobody wanted to go back,” he said through a translator.
Though he no longer drives into Ukraine, Dragos-florin has taken four other trips to the border to help shuttle people from customs. In his interview with USA TODAY, he said he was on his way to pick up 11 kids from a Ukrainian orphanage.
When asked why he continues to transport refugees, Dragos-florin said he does it “just to help.”
“What I saw (in Ukraine) is a tragedy. … They're glad we're taking them out of the war zone.”
Follow USA TODAY reporter Bailey Schulz on Twitter: @bailey_schulz.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Help for Ukraine: Romanian man transports Ukrainian refugees to safety
