Hundreds of Ukrainians have left, abandoning their water-logged homes to travel across vast sweeps of occupied land, past checkpoints that required nail-biting interrogations and through Russia's urban heartland, all to reach the borders of the European Union.
KYIV, UKRAINE -- For Rima Yaremenko, the 5,000-kilometer odyssey to escape Russian occupation ended within sight of where it started. The 68-year-old Ukrainian woman traversed three countries over six days only to settle across the river from her beleaguered hometown.
Now that they are beyond the reach of Russian authorities, the escapees offered rare firsthand accounts to The Associated Press of their lives under occupation and their harrowing escape from Kremlin-controlled territory. Some of them spoke on the condition that they be identified only by their first names because they still have relatives living in occupied territory.
Residents initially hoped a quick Ukrainian counteroffensive would free them. But the longer they remained, the more they feared pressure to acquire Russian passports. Some are unable to pass simply because they lost their documents and have no money, said Nelly Isaeva, director of Helping to Leave, an organization that works remotely to aid Ukrainians who are trapped on the east bank and want to escape.
In Armyansk, a 50-year-old woman named Alla was questioned: Do you support Russia's special military operation? Do you have contacts in the Ukrainian government? Who do you think exploded the dam?Alla had stayed because her 74-year-old arthritis-stricken mother didn't want to go. Unable to bear it any longer, she took all the precautions she could by deleting potentially suspicious contacts and messages.
At the checkpoint, Alla looked up at the Russian soldier. I don't know who exploded the dam, she said. "I just want peace." He let her through.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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