Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

20th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Natalia and Ksenia from Ukraine

“Everyone from Hungary has tried to help us. They are amazing people,” said Natalia Adamenko, 44, who stayed in one of the church cottages when she first fled Kyiv before moving to a nearby town with her daughter, Kseniia, 17. “I know the Hungarian government is not so loyal, but the actual people are different.” Aid workers say that since the war broke out, Orbán and his ruling Fidesz party have done little to provide assistance to the roughly 400,000 Ukrainians who have arrived in the country, leaving volunteers, nongovernmental organizations and local governments to piece together a support system for the refugees. Jeroen van Drunen and his husband, Lennard de Klerk, are two residents of the remote countryside town of Irota who have done just that. They run vacation lodges and, when the war started, decided to register their spare rooms in the upstairs of their home on the website “icanhelp.host,” which connects people fleeing Ukraine with free accommodations.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 04.2022
Date Uploaded: 11.2022
Photo Location: Irota, Hungary
Camera: Canon EOS R6
Copyright: © Vladimir Zivojinovic