Circus solidarity: Ukrainian performers find home in Hungary

Around 100 young Ukrainian students of circus arts fled their country as Russian bombings made conditions there too dangerous to remain

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Swinging on trapezes, juggling rings or twirling on aerial silks, young Ukrainians with a passion for the circus who were uprooted by Russia's war are now training in Hungary.

Around 100 Ukrainian circus art students from age 5 to 20, with their adult chaperones, escaped the embattled cities of Kharkiv and Kyiv amid Russian bombings.

In neighboring Hungary, fellow circus devotees extended help and solidarity to the refugees, taking them in and allowing them to continue training in the safety of the capital, Budapest.

“I can’t stand it when I can’t train. I just want to perform in circus shows,” said Ira Maiboroda, a 16-year-old acrobat from Kharkiv who arrived in Hungary more than two weeks ago. “When I was in Kharkiv, I dreamed of being in the circus in Europe … I’m here and I’m really joyful.”