In 2014, photojournalist Serhii Korovayny watched Russian forces take his home town, Khartsyzsk in Donetsk region. Eight years later, with the next invasion by Russia, he and his family fled their home in Kyiv. The situation prompted Korovayny to track down others from Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine who also had to flee for a second time.
Is it harder to lose their home again? Or do they already have these survival skills? he asked. Did they have the full tank of gas and luggage ready? And where are those homes now?
I think its easier for me than for those that experience it for the first time. I know that life doesnt end there. It will go on. War is a test that shows what youre capable of and how much faith and willingness to fight you have in you, says journalist Daria Kurinna. She jokes she can now pack the entire house in 30 minutes. I immediately realised that I was going to leave Kyiv, she said. I didnt want to put myself in harms way again.
In 2014, Andriy Shchekun, an activist from Crimea, organised a resistance movement on the peninsula. He was soon captured and held for 11 days before he and other prisoners were exchanged for a high-ranking Russian official. He had been living in Kyiv and calling himself a forcibly deported Crimean citizen. This February, when the invasion began, he and his family immediately went to Lviv. Shchekun had to use multiple trains and buses to get there. However, he had every aspect of the route planned beforehand.
Serhii Kolesnikov compares abandoning your life during war to a parachute jump. When I first jumped, I was told that it was scary only for the first-timers. This is not true at all, says the 32-year-old, who runs a media company. At the time of the occupation of Luhansk, Kolesnikov was 24. He had nothing to lose. Everything that happened was seen as an adventure and a challenge. Sleeping on the floor seemed sort of romantic then. Now, in Lviv with his family, it feels like a month of nights on a train. We are renting an apartment here, but my house is in Kyiv. Kolesnikov expected war for eight years. I advised all my acquaintances not to buy any real estate. They looked at me like I was an idiot. It would be better, of course, if they were right, not me. I recently read a book about Holocaust survivors who advised their kids to only have the property that fits in a small bag. I understand them very well now.
Diana Berg, an artist, moved to Mariupol from occupied Donetsk in 2014. She wanted to turn Mariupol into the cultural capital of Donbas and created an art platform called TIU. Now she helps people in Mariupol to escape the occupied and destroyed city. Just like other migrants, we put a lot of love into rebuilding our life in a new place. Our entire lives were left back at home, including close ones who did not have phone service. We were grateful for the Donetsk that we used to have. Thats why we put all our love into the new home in Mariupol. We had to furnish it from scratch, so we got cats and we bought string lights to put in our apartment overlooking the theatre. Now my loss of home hurts even deeper. Back then, we were still able to go to Donetsk on occasion, but as for Mariupol, theres nowhere to return to.
Sisters Ksenia and Tetiana Ivanov work for a charity in Ivano-Frankivsk whose work revolves around those affected by war shelters for victims of domestic violence are being repurposed for the needs of internally displaced people. In Donetsk in 2014, they didnt even consider waiting the fighting out. Their pro-Ukrainian parents quickly realised they didnt want to live there any more and moved to Kyiv. But this time their parents refused to flee on principle. Tetiana says it is as painful to experience war now as it was the first time around, eight years ago. You cant ever be ready for such a tragedy even if youve experienced it before. You have dreams, make plans, build your life from scratch and all this makes it even worse. Russians are once again taking these most precious things from us.
Danylo Pavlov, a documentary photographer and photo editor at Reporters magazine, did not expect war in 2014. A month before it started, he spent all his savings on building materials. He dreamed of creating the ideal family space in his home in Donetsk. When the war began, he left the city with his wife and two young children, little to no luggage and no plan B. Like most acquaintances, they left for for two weeks, tops. At first, they went to relatives in Uzhhorod, and later to Kyiv after an invitation from a magazine. It took years to settle in a new place and buy things to do up a new apartment in Kyiv. As soon as he partly completed the repairs, war returned. When we discussed the possible invasion at home, it piqued the childrens interest. I went too far with my stories and realised it when my son cried. What hasnt changed since 2014, Pavlov says, is the painful issue of the relationship between those fleeing the war to peaceful regions and those living there. I did not expect Kyivites to face the same thing that the easterners faced previously. There are issues with regard to renting apartments, gossip about rude migrants and language issues all of this had already happened to Donetsk residents when they came to Kyiv eight years ago. It hurts that people are not ready to accept each other. But I still feel like we are more united now than ever.
Lyubov Zavhorodnya, 71, says that it is easy to tell whether a person is a refugee. I came to the market, and a woman stall owner offered me shoes at a discount. She saw that I wore clothes the same size as her. The next day she brought me two trunks of clothes. She said that if I didnt need them, I could give them to others. I was so grateful. This time Zavhorodnya fled the war from Dnipro. Eight years ago, she fled Debaltseve. One day, she was waiting for the shelling to end in the basement of her home. Our yard has always been green and bushy. There were so many tall trees. And when they came out of the basement after the shelling, it was so light that my eyes hurt. They fired so hard that not a single leaf on a tree was left. Now Zavhorodnya does not know where her house is located geographically. She only knows that home is where her son, daughter-in-law and four-year-old granddaughter are.
My daughter Natasha was 18 months old when we had to flee from the shelling in Luhansk. We went to relatives in Severodonetsk to wait until it was over, says Anastasiia. Eight years later, war has found them there. They spent the first nine days in a bomb shelter. Anastasiia has achieved a lot in this time. She worked at a local university, completed higher education, got a job as an editor at a radio station and bought an apartment where she lived with her daughter and mother. But the feeling of anxious anticipation has never left. In 2018, my father died; he couldnt take all this. He was such a patriot. He was even buried with a flag. He has always told me to be alert. The Russian world, he said, will expand sooner or later. And I was always afraid of that. Anastasiia is now in Drohobych, western Ukraine, thinking about what to do next.
Ive moved to so many places. This time it was devastating emotionally. I only reached the point in my life when anxiety went away and I felt happy for a week or two. Then Putin did this. I lost my home in Makiivka in 2014, when I was 18. It took me years to rebuild my life, to get into the prewar state I was in before 2014. Its like one little building block after the other. First, you look for a new dwelling. Then you need to find a place to finish your BA, then MA. Ive only been able to find friends and properly socialise after five years in Kyiv. Recently I became financially independent, rented a flat on my own. This time I didnt even want to leave. How old will I be when I get my life back again 35? 40? I have been waiting for eight years for Putin to go farther into the country. I kept thinking tomorrow, tomorrow, hell do it. I wont be able to finish my studies he will come. I wont have time to find a job he will come. I did what I planned. So did he.
It was easier for 29-year-old Artem Bakanov to leave Donetsk in 2014 than Kyiv now. Back then, he didnt have much. It was difficult to find a place to stay in Odesa, where he moved with his girlfriend people from Donbas often faced prejudice. The couple worked as waiters and tempered their spirits. They participated in pro-Ukrainian rallies. Then they moved to Kyiv, found work and made their first attempts to open a business. Finally, they felt the sky was the limit. Bakanov has managed to enter the restaurant business, develop his own company and taxi services as well as start a project to ship vehicles from the US. The possibility of an attack on Kyiv sounded ridiculous. I tried to calm my wife down. I was telling her that everything was going to be OK. Everyone kept withdrawing cash from their accounts, and I kept reloading mine as normal. It took one morning to lose everything youve been working on for the last eight years. After the next move to Lviv they asked themselves what was next. Bakanovs partner decided to start a self-defence school; every day, volunteers from Kharkiv, Odesa, Kyiv and Lviv teach 120-150 people. Medical and military instructors offer their knowledge and help. They are building a shooting range so that any visitor can learn how to fire guns safely.
Public official Artur Stadnik is 26 now. When there were battles for Donetsk, he was a student going through the work and travel programme in the US. He hasnt returned to his parents home. As soon as he finished his studies in Kharkiv, he moved to the capital with his parents. I could always sense their sadness in the background, but I was holding up well. Yes, the house was taken away from my family, but that couldnt be repeated, not again. And then the Russians expanded their military presence, and I wasnt so sure any more. I arranged my documents, had a medical screening at a draft board and, since December, have been packing and unpacking my things. When asked where his home is, Stadnik answers: Ukraine.
Marina Shulzhenko, with her parents and daughter Masha, moved from the town of Khartsyzsk in the Donetsk region to Bila Tserkva near Kyiv in 2014. In 2022, they were once again forced to move. This time to the village of Bohorodchany in western Ukraine. Shulzhenko says that both times it was hard to leave her house. It feels like the war is following us. Theres nowhere to hide from it. Nowhere is safe. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. It would reach us even across the border. Fear and grief. Thats probably what all of us refugees feel. We became very attached to Bila Tserkva throughout these eight years. I want to return there as soon as possible, once its safe to go.
Sign up for a different view with our Global Dispatch newsletter a roundup of our top stories from around the world, recommended reads, and thoughts from our team on key development and human rights issues, delivered to your inbox every two weeks:
Sign up for Global Dispatch please check your spam folder for the confirmation email
See the original post here:
- EU and Ukraine explore special tribunal for Putin and war officials - Euronews - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Do Russians Believe Putin's Propaganda? | TIME - TIME - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | Putins Russia throws a lifeline to North Korea - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- U.S. told Russia that Crocus City Hall was possible target of attack - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Escaping Putin's War Machine - Reveal - Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin ally Patrushev says NATO is helping attacks on Russia from Ukraine - Reuters - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Pine nuts: Mr. Putin, draw down that weapon - Sierra Sun - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- What's behind Putin's attempts to link Ukraine to Moscow terror attack? - Voice of America - VOA News - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Ukraine tells Trump to emulate Reagan as Putin readies major spring offensive - POLITICO Europe - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- 'Ein Schock fr Putin': Ukraine Bombs Three Russian Air Bases, Then Vows To Send Its Drones Further Into Russia - The New York Sun - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- France's Macron Tries to Jolt Europe Into Taking Tougher Approach With Putin - WSJ - The Wall Street Journal - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- How Putin's Relationship With Islam Works - The American Conservative - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Ukraine embraces far-right Russian 'bad guy' to take the battle to Putin - POLITICO Europe - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Will Keen on Playing Vladimir Putin in Patriots on Broadway: The Sign of a Great Liar Is the Ability to Lie to Oneself - Variety - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Kim Jong Uns correspondence with Putin shoots up amid cooperation over Ukraine - NK News - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Cathy Young on Putin's American Fans - Reason - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin regime cracks down on Central Asian immigrants The Militant - The Militant - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin, Russia and what might have been | Daily Gate City - Keokuk, Iowa | mississippivalleypublishing.com - Mississippi Valley Publishing - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Do Russians Believe Putin's Propaganda? - AOL - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin and the Superiority Myth - Center for European Policy Analysis - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin Pushes Russia To Make Consoles To Compete With PlayStation And Xbox - Kotaku - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Reality is chipping away at Putinism - The New Statesman - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Putin Is No Ally In the War on Terror in 2024 - 19FortyFive - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | Joe Lieberman and Gordon Humphrey: How to counter Putin's lies - The Washington Post - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Opinion | I am proud to have spoken out against Putin's crimes in Ukraine - The Washington Post - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Georgia's government plays into Putin's hands as it moves to suppress art and culture - The Conversation - April 6th, 2024 [April 6th, 2024]
- Russia election: Putin declared winner of race that was never in doubt - The Associated Press - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Exclusive: Putin to visit China in May - Reuters - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin Urges Russians to Unite on Ukraine War - The New York Times - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin Aide on 'Sham' Election Attacks: 'Not Going to Justify Ourselves' - Newsweek - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- West condemns 'sick' Putin's rigged election win as Xi sends congrats to Moscow - POLITICO Europe - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- What's Next After Putin's Win, and Why U.S. Home Prices May Start to Drop - The New York Times - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin planning buffer zone around border with Ukraine - The Hill - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- With the election behind him, Putin says Russia aims to set up a buffer zone inside Ukraine - The Associated Press - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisito strengthen Russian-Iranian relations - The Jerusalem Post - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putins Orchestrated Election Leaves Russians With No Other Choices - The New York Times - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin speaks Navalny's name for first time, claims he agreed to prisoner exchange - POLITICO Europe - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- How Xi and Putin took parallel paths to become life rulers - Business Insider - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- The West's New Approach Can Save Georgia From Putin - Newsweek - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin had to contrive a landslide because he knows cracks are showing in Russian society - The Guardian - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Basking in his Russian election win, Putin talks about political nemesis Alexei Navalny's 'sad' death for the first time - CNBC - March 20th, 2024 [March 20th, 2024]
- Putin Isn't Hitler, He's Mussoliniand Ukraine Is His Abyssinia - Modern War Institute - West Point - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Analysis: Is the GLSDB One of Nuland's Promised 'Nice Surprises' for Putin? - Kyiv Post - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Secret Putin palace discovered with yachts, personal waterfall: report - Business Insider - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin challenger submits 105000 signatures backing his election campaign - POLITICO Europe - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russia's Putin blames Ukraine for crash of POW's plane and pledges to make investigation public - The Associated Press - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russia's war on Ukraine a 'huge issue' for EU as Putin's ambitions are 'much more far-reaching' - FRANCE 24 English - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin to visit Turkey in February, Kremlin says - Yahoo News - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin to visit NATO member Turkiye on 12 February - Middle East Monitor - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin Officially Registered For Russian Presidential Election Amid Suppression Of Opposition - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin vs the West: At War TV review world leaders offer candid reflections in BBC documentary - Financial Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- An unlikely challenger to Putin brings a rare show of defiance, creating a dilemma for the Kremlin - The Associated Press - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Analysis: China's rising star visits U.S. over warming Putin-Kim ties - Nikkei Asia - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kremlin denies report Putin reached out to the US about ending Ukraine war - Business Insider - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Belarusian President complains to Putin that Ukraine and Baltic countries "seek better life abroad" video - Yahoo News - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin Vs the West: At War review did Liz Truss really storm out of her own office? - The Guardian - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- U.S. Ally Could Hand Biden New Trump Card for Dealing with Putin - Newsweek - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin says earns $175K, owns couple of apartments and a parking spot - Business Insider - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kremlin denies report that Putin reaching out to US, might drop key demands on Ukraine - Reuters.com - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- In Ukraine and Europe, a concern: Has Putin outlasted the US? - The Christian Science Monitor - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russian Election Authorities Pick Pro-War Symbol, Putins Favorite Slogan for Presidential Campaign Promo - The Moscow Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russians who want rid of Putin pin election hopes on anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin - The Guardian - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Secret Putin Residence Discovered Near Finland Dossier Center - The Moscow Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin Accuses Kyiv Of Trying To Provoke Russia After 2 Years Of Shelling Ukraine - HuffPost UK - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russian Anti-War Candidacy Bid An Unexpected Obstacle In Kremlin's Effort To Smoothly Reinstall Putin - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russias anti-war presidential candidate submits bid to run against Putin - Semafor - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Russian Officials Further Stack Deck in Favor of Putin's Reelection - Newsweek - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kremlin Hopes Armenia Joining ICC Will Not Affect Relations - The Moscow Times - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- In shadow of Trump, Putin and Orbn, EU struggles to get its act together on Ukraine - POLITICO Europe - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Putin registered as fourth candidate in Russian presidential election - Yahoo News - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Kyiv 'strikes airfield' in occupied Crimea as Putin prepares to visit Turkey - The Independent - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Vladimir Putin is trying to entice foreign nationals with the offer of Russian citizenship to help him fight against Ukraine - Fortune - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin's 'peace' is a partitioned Ukraine - The Spectator - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Russia's War on Woke: Putin Is Trying to Unite the Far Right and Undermine the West - Foreign Affairs Magazine - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin's Drive to Rewrite History Snares a Retired Lithuanian Judge - The New York Times - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin makes passing Ukraine reference in New Year's Eve address - Reuters - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin Vows to Keep Up Bombardment After a Russian City Is Hit - The New York Times - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin lauds Russian unity in his New Year's address - POLITICO - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Zelenskiy speaks of war, Putin makes passing reference in contrasting New Year speeches - Reuters - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Putin Says He Wants Peace in Ukraine But on Russia's Own Terms - Bloomberg - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]