Ukrainian refugees adjusting, with difficulty, to new lives

Oleksandra Suprun and her mother were picking up garbage in the Parc Cinquantenaire in Brussels late Saturday morning. The two Ukrainians were taking part in a clean-up activity to show gratitude to the Belgian people by refugees who recently arrived in the country.

Belgium has received some 45,000 refugees from Ukraine, according to Promote Ukraine, the organizer of Saturday's event.

Belgium's federal agency for the reception of asylum seekers (Fedasil) estimated some 78,000 Ukrainian refugees will be registered in Belgium, a number much lower than previous estimates.

Several dozen people showed up on Saturday, mostly women but also children and a few men. The Ukrainian government does not allow men aged 18 to 60 leave the country.

Suprun and her mother came to Belgium a month ago from Ukrainian capital Kyiv. She said everything has been okay since their arrival, so far.

"The country has been very welcoming. Belgium is very international, very friendly," she said in fluent English.

She added they came to the event to show their appreciation to the Belgian people and European Union.

Suprun said her mother is still struggling because she speaks neither English nor French.

"Learning language is difficult (for her)," she said.

Anastasia Lisenko, another young Ukrainian refugee, said she and her 18-month-old daughter came to Belgium from Kyiv on March 10, while her mother, sister and niece came from the city of Kharkiv.

"It is still difficult inside," she said, pointing her finger at her heart.

"We wait for the war to stop, so we can go back," she said, adding all the men and many other family members are still in Ukraine.

"We want to thank Belgian people for their help," she said, with her mother, sister and niece next to her ready to start the clean-up work.

Lisenko hopes to find a job that can be done online so she can also take care of her baby daughter.

More than 14 million Ukrainians are thought to have fled their homes since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on Feb 24, according to the United Nations. Poland alone is hosting 3.5 million.

More than 6 million have left for neighboring countries, while 8 million are displaced inside their own country.