In Belgium, a Ukrainian refugee wins 500,000 Euros in the lottery

A Ukrainian refugee from the Russian war, who has been residing in Brussels for a year, has won 500,000 Euros in a scratch lottery. This news has been shared by the Belgian National Lottery, as reported by TVPworld.

"There are mixed feelings about the win. It's hard to be happy about something like this, considering everything that's happening in his homeland," says Joke Vermoer, spokeswoman for the Belgian National Lottery. But he was "very happy with his win" and "filled with hope".

The man purchased a scratch card for 5 Euros ($5.40) at a petrol station on May 16. His identity is not disclosed, but it is known that he is between 18 to 24 years old and has been living in the Belgian capital for 12 months.

"We see many winners here, but in this case, we saw that it meant much more to the winner, as if it was a sign of hope in dark times," Vermoer added.

Vermoer also noted that the winner intends to first organise a celebration to thank everyone who helped him integrate in Belgium. Afterwards, the winner aims to benefit his compatriots and contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The spokeswoman for the Belgian National Lottery also emphasised that while the Ukrainian is satisfied with Belgium and has found a job there, he wants to return to Ukraine as soon as the war ends.

Since the start of Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Belgium has taken in at least 65,000 Ukrainian refugees. 25% of the people who applied for registration expressed a need for housing. Therefore, the National Crisis Centre directed 16,183 displaced individuals from Ukraine to temporary crisis shelters - either directly to a commune in the country or via the Red Cross Emergency Assistance Centre "Ariane" in Brussels.

Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine has forced millions of Ukrainians to leave their homes. In total, according to the UN, more than 8 million Ukrainian refugees were registered in Europe at the beginning of April 2023.

Poland hosts the largest number of registered Ukrainian refugees, where as of the beginning of April 2023, 1.58 million Ukrainians were registered. Germany is in second place with 923,000 registered Ukrainian refugees. In third place is the Czech Republic with 504,000 refugees from Ukraine.

Furthermore, international authorities accuse Russia of forcibly deporting Ukrainians from the occupied territories of Ukraine, among whom are nearly 20,000 children. This issue is being investigated by the International Criminal Court. Due to suspicions of responsibility for this war crime, the court issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.