Ukrainian cities not under Russian attack feel 'unreal,' like watching peaceful scenes on a 'large TV,' one displaced family says

• More than 10 million people have been displaced during the war, and most of them remain in Ukraine.
• One family told Insider it's surreal to be in a Ukrainian city not under attack while their hometown is bombarded.

More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded on February 24.

Most have landed in bordering countries like Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia, triggering a crisis in Eastern Europe as the number of refugees quickly surpassed the United Nations' worst-case estimate.

But even more Ukrainians fleeing the fighting have remained in the country. Nearly 6.5 million people had been displaced within Ukraine as of March, the UN's refugee agency said, many of whom came from the east.

One of those families told Insider they were forced to leave their hometown of Kharkiv in the first week of the war, after days of shelling by Russian forces crumbled much of the city.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, has seen some of the worst bombardment.

"The decision to leave was very hard," Sergey Osyka said in an interview with Insider that was translated by his son Bogdan.

Sergey and his wife, Inna, were in Kharkiv when the bombardment started, while their sons were living in Oslo, Norway. Despite living in a state of alert for years due to fighting in the Donbas region, Sergey was shocked by the way the shelling started essentially overnight.

They remained in their home in Kharkiv for the first six days of the war, sheltering in their basement, where they didn't have internet or cell reception.

"I was worried when I couldn't get in touch with them," Bogdan said of his parents. "You never know if they're in the basement or the house is getting bombarded."

Russian forces were still bombarding the city when Sergey and Inna made the decision to leave on March 2. They waited for a brief break in the attacks and set off from Kharkiv in their car around 6 a.m., heading west but unsure where they would go.

Sergey called every person the couple knew in western Ukraine to try and arrange a place for them to stay. Bogdan was in constant touch with his parents, following news and updates on the war to help them coordinate the safest route.

"We knew it was roulette because Russia shoots civilians," Sergey said. "But it was a roulette also to stay in Kharkiv."

Peaceful scenes in Ukrainian cities that haven't been attacked feel 'unreal'

Sergey and Inna safely made it to Chernivtsi, a city in southwestern Ukraine near the Romanian border, where they are temporarily renting an apartment about 620 miles away from their home in Kharkiv.

They wake up every morning and listen to the news, unsure of what new developments they will learn or if Russian shelling will spread to where they are located. Sergey said the stress of it all is turning his hair gray: "My son told me that my already grey head was as if it was sprinkled with ashes."

The couple tries to go about their days as normally as possible. They are still able to work a bit remotely, which provides a welcome distraction. They also try to go on walks and make dinner, to do things that were normal before the war, but knowing what's happening just a drive away makes for a surreal experience.

"Sitting on a bench in the park, I watch happy children playing, elderly couples walking with dogs, and it seems to me that I am behind the screen of a large TV, and look at the passing peaceful life as something unreal," Sergey wrote to Insider.

Even though they're in a city not under attack, Sergey and Inna said just knowing what's happening in other parts of Ukraine makes it impossible to relax and that the feelings of anxiety do not go away even during sleep.

Their lives are filled with uncertainty over what each day will bring and over the extent of the damage in Kharkiv, where they're eager to return once the war has ended.

"My city is systematically destroyed, residential infrastructure, houses, shops, schools, hospitals are systematically bombed and I am horrified by the very thought of what I will see upon arrival home," Sergey said.

As Russian forces focus their efforts on eastern Ukraine, deadly attacks continue to hit Kharkiv, and the future of the city and its residents remains uncertain.

But Sergey said all he dreams about now is the end of the war and peace for Ukraine, about a world where he can go to work, come home, have dinner with his wife, and spend time with his sons.

"He is eager when the war stops to come back and build the city from scratch," Bogdan said of his father. "To start a normal life in the place where he was born."

Sergey and Inna are certain they'll return to Kharkiv and to their house, where they raised their sons and which has withstood two world wars – as long as it's still standing.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.