The explosions lit the early morning sky. And pushed Olya Khrystoliubova to leave Kyiv.
Within 15 minutes, she packed her luggage with necessary documents, food for her cat and clothes for herself, then embarked on a days-long journey with her mother, Svitlana.
Khrystoliubova, 36, is among millions of Ukrainians who left their homes in fear as Russia invaded. Figuring out what to bring was a matter of necessity and a surrender to the fact that the pieces of the lives they built couldn’t fit in a backpack. The Washington Post spoke with some Ukrainians about what they brought — and what they left.
