Love and longing for Ukraine’s war refugees

The Straits Times, page B4-5 - https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraines-war-refugees-looking-for-love-amid-a-war

In a special report, journalism students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information spoke to war refugees who fled to Germany and Poland after being displaced by Russia’s military attack on Ukraine.

Of the 11.9 million who have left the country, most are women, children and the elderly, as male Ukrainians aged 18 to 60 cannot leave under martial law. Some refugees return to Ukraine for work, visit loved ones they have not seen for months, or to run errands. While many do not stay long, some have decided to stay put as they were unable to get used to living overseas.

Ukrainian matchmaking agencies are also seeing a rise in female clients, mostly those who left the country, looking for foreign lifelong partners. Young Ukrainian women are also turning to dating apps to look for love, even as the war is expected to exacerbate the country’s gender imbalance, with women outnumbering men 100 to 86.