Irish student fleeing Ukraine arrives at EU border

An Irish student fleeing the war in Ukraine has made it to a European Union border.

19-year-old Racheal Diyalou was studying medicine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy and has been attempting to get home to Carlow.

Her sister Christiana confirmed this afternoon that she had reached an EU border.

“They have made it to the border and are making their way through now. I’ve been told not to reveal their exact location yet, until they get to safety,” she tweeted.

“Next step – Ireland,” she added.

****UPDATE****THEY’VE MADE IT TO AN EU BORDER! I could shout it from the hills! They have made it to the border and are making their way through now. I’ve been told not to reveal their exact location yet, until they get to safety🎉 Next step ✈️Ireland🇮🇪.
My face right now:😆

— 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊 (@PrincxssTiana) March 9, 2022

Racheal is on the third day on her journey out of Ukraine following a dramatic rescue.

She began an attempted journey to Poland on Monday, telling RTÉ radio’s Morning she was travelling with two Scottish men who had offered a lift to her as well as her friends.

A first attempt to get out of Sumy on Sunday failed when the two men could not reach the pickup point after they were fired on by Russian soldiers and punctured their tyres, Rachel’s sister Christiana said.

“They came back today, they just picked us up now. I’m fine,” Racheal said.

The medical student said that they would attempt to drive to Poland, a journey that would normally take 17 hours, but which was set to take longer as she was not certain of their route or if they could take the proposed humanitarian corridors.

Racheal said that conditions in Sumy, which is 70km from the Russian border, had been worsening.