Having successfully crossed the border into Romania, the Villa de Conde player was able to travel to Austria and another to Lisbon.
At Humberto Delgado Airport, the family was waiting. The flight, which was scheduled to land at 22:20, arrived 25 minutes earlier. Nelson Monty walked through the access gate at 10:31 p.m. and ran with his two sons in his arms. The trip is finally over.
Speaking to the press, the 26-year-old defender spoke about all the difficulties he encountered on the journey, the fears and the moments that marked him: leaving home and, later, along the border with Romania.
“I’m fine. I’ve seen a lot that will affect me for the rest of my life. When the bombs went off next to the apartment and I went to the car and saw how many families were running with children and bags. It was scary. And the other moment was at the border, when I waited three or four hours to pass. How many Ukrainians stayed There for hours to cross the border, and when it was their turn, they couldn’t. They got out of the car, and the women and children went. They stayed (due to martial law).”
In recognition of the support of the Portuguese state, the embassy, the players’ union, the Portuguese Football Federation and the Vila do Conde city council, the former Rio Ave player, who trained at Benfica, was clear and exhausted.
He admitted that focusing on his children and wife made him not believe that he would never reach Portugal or the difficulties that could await him.
“I heard two bombs and in the middle of the stage another exploded. They hid them in a ‘basement'”
“The trip was crazy. When I woke up to the bombing three days ago, I ran to the club’s training camp, with the foreign players, to try and figure out what to do. We were told to go to Lviv. Still at home, I heard two bombs and in the training center another one exploded. They hid us in a “vault”. Meanwhile, we got to the road, and when we had been driving for 40 minutes, we got a tip that we could stay at our boss’s hotel all night, because it’s a safe place,” he began, noting, when he was still in the hotel, he was quite frightened. From seeing a tank in front of the door.
“The next day we were heading to Lviv, to go to Poland. The trip was horrible. The GPS indicated a route of just over 13 hours and what is certain I had driven for almost 25 hours. When I got somewhere There were roads cut off and we had to turn back and walk along the secondary roads. Many of them are in the middle of the bush, at 20 or 30 kilometers per hour. For those fleeing, that’s desperation.
Continuing, in the middle of the road, Nelson Monti, who was accompanied by the Ukrainians, received information that the city of Lviv had been evacuated.
We changed route and headed to Romania. We encountered a military presence, where we had to show passports and have the car searched. All with the utmost calm. The most I thought about was my children, my wife, and my family. The most complicated thing was not knowing how I would get to Portugal. Today, at the border, there was an incredible number of cars fleeing the country. I left my car 10 kilometers from the border and walked the rest of the way to be able to cross,” he recalls.
As he admits, now is the time to be with his family, “have fun with the kids” and his wife and only then think about football. in the profession. But until then, he gives all the support to colleagues who want to send their families to Portugal.
“The Ukrainian people did not deserve to go through this. A people who will defend their homeland. My heart goes out to them and my teammates. I told them I would help everyone who wants to send families to Portugal. They want to defend their homeland.”
On Thursday, Russia launched a military attack in Ukraine, with ground forces and bombing targets in several cities, which has already caused the deaths of at least 198 people, including civilians, and wounded more than 1,100, on Ukrainian territory, according to Kiev. The United Nations reported that 150,000 people were displaced to Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the “special military operation” in Ukraine was aimed at disarming the neighboring country and that it was the only way for Russia to defend itself, with the Kremlin specifying that the offensive would continue as long as necessary.
The attack was generally condemned by the international community and led to emergency meetings of a number of governments, including the Portuguese, NATO, the European Union and the United Nations Security Council, agreeing to collective sanctions against Russia. .
