How the horror of war inspired this Italian's bid to save 500 refugees
In March, Italian Alberto Andreani defied bombs and bullets to rescue 40 people from Kharkiv, Ukraine, including his wife’s family.
Twenty of those the 58-year-old rescued are still staying with him at his apartment in Vienna, Austria.
One month later, Alberto returned to the war-torn country. This time he's hoping to save 500 people.
Having gathered a team to support him behind the scenes, he worked with the Ukrainian authorities to create a safe humanitarian corridor for the country's most vulnerable.
This is the story of his mammoth effort.
Alberto, who works for the United Nations in post-conflict zones, first went to Ukraine in March to bring his wife's family to safety. He was almost killed during his first trip, after accidentally violating the nationwide curfew.
But Alberto was undeterred.
Describing the war as a “genocide”, he was left deeply disturbed by what he saw travelling through Ukraine. It strengthened his resolve to return and do something bigger.
Through the donations of hundreds of people, Alberto raised around €20,000 to fund a second mission. He got in touch with the mayor of Ternopil, a small city in western Ukraine, and started to plan the rescue of hundreds of women, children, elderly and disabled people, especially those without the means to escape.
“I have many thoughts,” Alberto said on the eve of his second journey. The fighting had grown more brutal since his first trip, with allegations of Russian war crimes, and he was concerned about entering a war zone.
“But I cannot forget the faces of the people I saw [in Ukraine] who were asking me for help,” he added.
Alberto's mission was almost immediately rocked by obstacles.
On 2 April, the first day after he arrived in Ternopil, a strong explosion rattled
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