Key facts
- Ukrainians have shared personal accounts of escaping Russian occupation.
- Experiences include forced mobilization, passportization, and propaganda.
- Survivors describe the psychological impact of living under occupation.
- One family escaped after over two years of captivity.
- The importance of resisting occupation and the betrayal of ceding territory are highlighted.
Multiple Ukrainians have shared harrowing accounts of escaping Russian occupation, detailing the severe conditions and psychological toll imposed by the invading forces. Dmytro Kruk described enduring forced Russian mobilization, passportization, propaganda, and invasive FSB filtration processes while attempting to leave occupied Donetsk Oblast.
Maksym Styuflyaev recounted witnessing Russian troops in his hometown of Lutuhyne, Luhansk region, in 2014, and then again in the Kharkiv region in 2022, eight years after initially fleeing the same scene. He recalled the initial local belief that the conflict would be short-lived, an illusion that gradually dissipated as Russian occupation took hold.
Styuflyaev, who has cerebral palsy, described his unique relationship with his hometown, noting that his memories were largely confined to what he saw from his window. He shared the vivid memory of spending days and nights in a basement with neighbors during the first occupation, observing how war systematically destroyed ordinary lives and mental states.
In another account, Yulia Khrapatova lived in fear for months in Berdiansk after Russian troops took over her hometown shortly after the Feb. 24, 2022, full-scale invasion. She worried her patriotism would be discovered, leading to her children, Anastasia, 14, and Kyrylo, 5, being taken away for speaking Ukrainian. Russian soldiers reportedly attempted to re-program the children, including making them pledge allegiance to Russia at school.
After more than two and a half years under occupation, the Khrapatova family embarked on a nearly 2,000-mile journey by bus and train, navigating battle lines and checkpoints to reach Zvyaghel in free western Ukraine. Kyrylo is now attending kindergarten there, safe to speak Ukrainian freely.