With the escalation of the conflict, the concerns of the 26-year-old, a student of oil and gas extraction technology and part-time DJ, have also worsened, who last Friday decided to leave the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, towards Lviv, near the Polish border, in the company of a friend.
"There was a lot of confusion, there were a lot of people trying to get on the trains and they were giving priority to women and children", he told Lusa, explaining that at the time it was already almost impossible to get a ticket for the trip.
"You couldn't do it, either on the machines or at the station," he added. The priority was Ukrainian citizens, women and children. But many others, like Valdir, ended up taking advantage of the confusion and continued anyway, without a transport ticket to Lviv, where they arrived about nine hours later.
"We stayed at the station, very apprehensive," he reported. In the streets, the militarized scene, with patrols of Ukrainian soldiers, and the noise of the sirens contributed to increase the tension of those who gathered there, trying to feel more protected from the bombings.
The station became a mosaic of nationalities, including many Africans. In addition to Angolans, there were Ghanaians, Cameroonians, Nigerians. "Many people are distressed", summarizes Daniel Valdir.
It was also there that the young man met a group of 40 Angolans who were also determined to leave Ukraine as quickly as possible. In the absence of a train, they decided to organize themselves into small groups and look for taxis to take them to the border.
"We managed to get a car, but when we got there, about 40 kilometers from the border, they told us it was the limit and told us to leave", he declared.
In front of him stretched a long line of fleeing cars and the young Angolan and his companions had no alternative but to walk to the border, facing nerves, fatigue and the cold.
After about seven hours of walking, they finally reached the desired gate of the border post. But contrary to what they expected, the entry was not immediate.
"There was confusion again, everything was very disorganized, everyone was pushing and trying to get through, it was difficult to be there. We tried to get through for three hours and then we gave up", he said.
At night, the cold became more intense and tension and fatigue took hold of one of the Angolans in the group, who began to feel ill.
"She was shivering from the cold, she couldn't breathe and passed out." The companions then try to return to the gate for help, but the guards do not budge.
"Nobody helped us, they said we had to wait right there, then I found the treatment really inhuman", lamented the student, adding that the young woman ended up being rescued by other Angolans and was regaining consciousness.
To appease the cold, fires were lit, preparing the night in the open.
"We were very frustrated, we couldn't understand why nobody came to our aid, we complained a lot, but we had no idea that, on the other side of the gate, it was still Ukraine," he continued.
Finally, during the early hours of the morning, Daniel managed to approach the control and submit his documents to the authorities in order to continue towards Poland, where he arrived on Sunday morning.
On the other hand, the Angolans were awaited by buses from the Polish authorities that transported them to a reception centre.
"There we met the embassy staff, who then took us to a hotel where we met, in Warsaw", and where there were already about 50 Angolans, with more compatriots being expected, he said.
Asked if he felt discriminated against during this trip, Daniel Valdir reiterated that priority was given to Ukrainian citizens. "But I'm aware that everyone was panicking," added the young man, noting that everything could have been better organized.
Daniel Valdir, relieved by the end of the journey, said that everyone is doing well at the moment, despite feeling "weak" and "weakened due to fatigue".
For many of his compatriots, he added, the objective is to continue the journey and go to other stops because "they don't want to stay in Poland, they don't feel safe".
Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine early Thursday, with ground forces and bombing targets in several cities, which have killed more than 350 civilians, including children, according to Kiev. The UN reported more than 100,000 displaced people and almost 500,000 refugees in Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.
