An 11-year-old boy who braved the 600-mile journey from southeastern Ukraine to the Slovakian border by himself has been reunited with his mother.
Hassan Pisecká crossed the country with only a plastic bag, passport, and telephone number scribbled on his hand, in a story that won the hearts of people from around the world.
His mother Júlia Pisecká, a widow, remained in their hometown of Zaporizhzhia, where Russian troops struck a nuclear power plant in early March, to continue caring for her elderly and immobile mother who was unable to flee.
On reaching the border, Hassan’s ‘smile, fearlessness and determination’ won over officials who helped him cross into Slovakia. They contacted his relatives in the country using the phone number and a note that was tied to his waist.
He was reunited with his mother, grandmother and dog in Slovakia this week as the family wanted ‘to thank everyone from my heart’ for their help getting the family, who fled the war in Syria several years ago, back together.
Júlia said the train ride out of Ukraine ‘was very difficult’ but ‘we had to escape so our family could be back together’ as she admitted ‘we have to start from scratch. We lost everything we’ve had but we’re healthy.’
Hassan Pisecká, 11, who braved the 600-mile journey from southeastern Ukraine to the Slovakian border by himself has been reunited with his mother (pictured)
He was reunited with his mother, grandmother and dog in Slovakia this week as the family wanted ‘to thank everyone from my heart’ for their help getting the family back together
Júlia Pisecká hugs relatives in Slovakia as she arrives after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine this week
Júlia (pictured, reuniting with her family) said the train ride out of Ukraine ‘was very difficult’ but ‘we had to escape so our family could be back together’ as she admitted ‘we have to start from scratch. We lost everything we’ve had but we’re healthy’
Hassan (pictured, centre) was reunited with his mother, grandmother and dog in Slovakia this week as the family wanted ‘to thank everyone from my heart’ for their help getting the family, who fled the war in Syria several years ago, back together
On reaching the border, Hassan’s ‘smile, fearlessness and determination’ won over officials who helped him cross into Slovakia. They contacted his family in the country using the phone number and a note that was tied to his waist
Hassan Pisecká crossed the country with only a plastic bag, passport, and telephone number scribbled on his hand, in a story that won the hearts of people from around the world
Hassan took a number of trains travelling west across to the Slovakian border, where he was spotted by officials who were struck by his ‘smile, fearlessness and determination, worthy of a true hero’.
They helped him reach the other side, where relatives were phoned and came to collect him. It is unclear when Hassan’s siblings left for Slovakia.
A post on Facebook describing Hassan’s journey said: ‘Volunteers took care of him, took him warm and provided him with food and drink, which they packed for the next trip.
‘Thanks to the number on his hand and a piece of paper in his waist, he managed to contact his loved ones, who came for him later, and the whole story ended well.’
Hours after the boy – whose relatives in Bratislava were contacted – reached safety, his mother Júlia Pisecká explained that her son was able to reach the border by train, in a video shared in a Facebook post by the Police of the Slovak Republic.
In the clip she added: ‘I am a widow and I have more children. I want to thank the Slovak customs and volunteers who took care of my son and helped him cross the border.
‘I am grateful you have saved my child’s life. Next to my town is a nuclear power plant that the Russians are shooting at. I couldn’t leave my mother, she can’t move on her own. People with a big heart live in your small country.’
Hassan’s story garnered global attention after it emerged he made the lengthy journey unaccompanied, with little in the way of personal possessions
Asked about the scariest part of his journey, Hassan said it was travelling in a crowded train carriage surrounded by strangers. Pictured, Hassan being helped by volunteers
Hassan was looked after by volunteers who kept him warm and provided him with food and drink, which they packed for the onward journey to meet his relatives in Slovakia
Hassan and his four older siblings in Slovakia later spoke to Good Morning Britain of their joy at being reunited. In a poignant moment, the boy said he ‘isn’t thinking about the future’ and is happy to be ‘safe’.
‘He says the most important is to be in the place where he has family,’ his older sister said, translating Hassan’s words.
‘He likes this city because it’s safe. He doesn’t know about the future because he doesn’t know about the situation in Ukraine. He is not thinking about the future, he just wants to be with us.’
Asked about the scariest part of his journey, Hassan said it was travelling in a crowded train carriage surrounded by strangers.
‘The train was very, very full, there were 300 people in one carriage,’ his sister translated.
‘The kids and the people were sitting in the hall and everyone was talking in foreign languages and he wasn’t understanding so that was the scariest [part of the journey] for him.’
The siblings told how they had been worried for their youngest brother as he set out on his journey, noting that before the war he hadn’t even wanted to spend a night away at summer camp because he had been too afraid.
His sibling said: ‘I wasn’t believing it because he’s the youngest in our family and he can’t even make tea by himself so I was very, very worried when he was going to cross the border by himself. He doesn’t even visit summer camp because he can’t leave us.’
One of Hassan’s older brothers said the family are ‘very, very happy’ because ‘nothing happened to him, he is healthy’ and added jokingly: ‘And now I can tease him’.
Strikes: Hassan is from Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces struck a nuclear power plant, above
In another post, the country’s interior minister wrote: ‘Little Hassan is only 11 years old, but in his way he has shown huge determination, courage and fearlessness that sometimes adults don’t have.
‘I am really very sorry for him and all the other children and their families who have to flee their country because of what is happening in Ukraine.’
Roman Mikulec added that Slovakia is ‘ready to help’ those fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘You will find security with us and if you ask for temporary protection, you will be provided with health care, social security, food, accommodation, education and job opportunities,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘The fact that you ask for temporary protection in Slovakia does not mean that you will not be able to travel to other EU countries.’
Russian troops had attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe and creates around 20 per cent of Ukraine’s electricity, in the early hours of Friday, March 4.
CCTV capturing a fierce gun battle between Putin’s men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-storey training building just outside the main complex.
Moscow’s men then stopped firefighters getting to the building for several hours.
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