Ukrainian Families Torn Apart: War Creates New Lives, Fading Hopes of Return

• Four years into Europe's largest refugee crisis since WWII, millions of Ukrainian families remain suspended between their war-torn homeland and fragile new lives abroad.
• Maryna Bondarenko, a journalist, fled Kyiv to Poland with her son and mother, keeping suitcases packed for a return that has been repeatedly postponed due to ongoing Russian attacks.
• Her husband, Andrij Dudko, serves on the front line in Ukraine, as martial law bars men of military age from leaving, leading to three-quarters of refugees being women and children.
• In Istanbul, Iryna Kushnir and Olga Yermolenko, high school friends from Kharkiv, have built new lives, but remain emotionally tied to Ukraine, monitoring missile attacks remotely.
• Surveys show a declining willingness among refugees, especially younger ones, to return to Ukraine, with children like Danylo barely remembering their homeland, signaling a generation losing its roots.