DUBAI: A 48-year-old Italian man has made a 5,000 kilometer round-trip across Europe to save his fiancée and her two children from war-torn Ukraine and bring them to safety within four days.
Sicily-based Davide Dipietro, who works for a private fishing company based in Pachino, was set to reunite with his Ukrainian fiancée, Nathalia, on March 20, the date when she was scheduled to travel to Italy.
As Russia initiated military action against Ukraine last month, though, Kyiv-based Nathalia and her two children, aged 11 and 14, were forced to escape from heavy bombardment as Russian forces reached the capital, and took refuge at a friend’s house at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Dipietro, along with a friend, jumped into his minibus and took off on a journey to save the “love of his life” and her two children on Feb. 28.
Media reports said he drove across Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, nonstop and without taking a rest until he reached the Polish city Krakow.
Nathalia, a physiotherapist, and her children had to walk for four kilometers to reach Krakow before she was reunited with her future husband.
The couple got engaged last year and the plan was for Nathalia and her children to travel to Sicily on March 20 to live with Dipietro.
With photos, video and live streaming, Dipietro documented his nonstop trip on social media. He drove roughly 5,000 kilometers in total until they reached Sicily on March 3.
In one of his Facebook posts documenting the trip, Dipietro said that although his story reached a happy ending, he still remained a witness to the “exodus of terrified and tearful Ukrainian refugees on the border.”
La Repubblica reported that Dipietro’s employer is set to hire Natalia to work for the company.
Italian man drives 5,000 km nonstop to save Ukrainian fiancée and her two kids
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Italian man drives 5,000 km nonstop to save Ukrainian fiancée and her two kids
- Davide Dipietro crossed four countries to reunite with his family at the Polish border
- Russia’s invasion disrupted Nathalia’s plan to move in to her husband-to-be’s home on March 20
Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they would review video footage from Piazza della Minerva to determine whether the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the 17th statue, which supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was victim of an "absurd act of barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little elephant), has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the Pantheon, one of most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Crispian Balmer)
