Last year, Qatar hosted 20 Russian and Ukrainian families, where they received medical, psychological and social support.
Qatar welcomed 19 families, including 32 children, from Russia and Ukraine this week who will be participating in a special programme that is offering them comprehensive support in light of the ongoing war between both countries.
In a statement on Wednesday, Qatar’s foreign ministry announced that the families had arrived on April 14 and will be staying in the country until April 24.
Qatari authorities held two separate gatherings for the Russian and Ukrainian families on Thursday at The Diplomatic Club, where they received a warm welcome from Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, Maryam Al Misnad.
The event falls under Qatar’s wider efforts to reunite those separated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which was first completed on October 16, 2023.
“The State of Qatar’s commitment to mediation and resolving conflicts through peaceful mediation reflects its solid stance in supporting humanitarian principles and international cooperation,” Al Misnad told the press during the event.
Last year, Qatar hosted 20 Russian and Ukrainian families, where they received medical, psychological and social support.
‘A dream come true’
Each of the families that came to Doha for the programme are accompanied by their trauma from the war that has raged on since 2022.
At the time, Natalia Spyridonova, 45, was in the now occupied city of Mariupol with her son, Alexander, who was 12 years old. As a member of the Ukrainian military, Spyridonova was immediately summoned for service, before she was taken by the Russian military on April 13, 2022.
“I didn’t have any connection with my relatives, I couldn’t get any information from the place where I was held,” she told Doha News through a translator.
Spyridonova said she was among 108 women who were exchanged between the Russian and Ukrainian sides on October 17, 2022. She broke down as she recounted the horrors she witnessed during her time in captivity.
“I felt happy when I returned to my homeland, but I had to take a lot of time to recover psychologically,” she said.
Standing in a room filled with other Ukrainians receiving assistance from Qatar, Spyridonova expressed her gratitude for being part of the programme along with her son.
“My son was dreaming about coming to Qatar[…]he dreamt to be like those children who came to Qatar last year[…]I like everything about Qatar, everyone is so friendly,” she said.
Ukrainian national Natalia Berenzon, 47, echoed the same sentiment after eventually being reunited with her husband’s nieces, Diana and Svitlana.
The two girls’ were around a year old when their parents were killed during the war. Berenzon along with her husband then took care of them since they were their immediate relatives.
“We are thankful that the government of Qatar helped bring back the kids,” she said.
As for 45-year-old Russian citizen, Anna Fomina, Qatar helped reunite her with her nine-year-old son, Artyom, after four years of separation. Fomina’s son was stuck in Ukraine during Covid-19 with her ex-husband, a Ukrainian citizen.
The war then broke out, affecting her past hopes of seeing her son again—until they were reunited last November following many failed attempts.
“She would like to thank Qatar from the bottom of her heart for this amazing opportunity and for the efforts for reuniting the children. She says that for the kids it’s truly a miracle, a fairy tale,” Fomina’s translator told Doha News.
“She didn’t tell her son [about coming to Qatar] until the last moment, because she wanted this to be a surprise for him,” the translator added.
