Annie

On my third trip to Ukraine in June 2022, I made a friend whose story I would like to share with you. First, let me tell you how I met her. 

I had been in Ukraine since June and was making one final trip from Poland to Ukraine. It was supposed to be a short trip, a delivery to Kyiv. As I was driving just past the beautiful town of Brody, the van I was driving broke down. Being broken down on the side of the road is frustrating enough, but being broken down on the other side of the world is… interesting. After a few phone calls, a local repair shop arrived to tow the broken van to their garage. In the passenger seat of the tow car was a young girl. She spoke English well and had been brought along to serve as an interpreter between myself and the tow man. 

That afternoon, my new mechanic friends and I were curious to see if the motor could be repaired or if it would need to be replaced. We went to work while Annie, my new Ukrainian friend, translated all but the profanity. I was curious to learn where she had learned English. Annie told me that she had learned it in school in Kherson. She was from Kherson! Kherson was still occupied by Russian forces then, and I was hearing lots of rumors and seeing lots of movement supposedly supporting the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive that would seek to liberate Kherson. I expressed my optimism to her that it would not be long before Ukrainian forces liberated the city. She explained that her parents were still there and how worried she was for them. I was worried, too. Another friend of mine had a near-miraculous story of her escape from Russian-occupied Kherson. I knew it would be exceptionally dangerous for Annie's parents.

Kherson was quickly occupied on March 2nd at the beginning of Russia's 2022 invasion. Many agree that this was possible due to the work of Russian collaborators (traitors) operating at higher levels in the Kherson region’s government. By July, a sizable Ukrainian force had been assembled nearby which would attack Russian forces whose advance had been firmly stopped. The Russians were now entirely on the defense. In hindsight, this was a spectacular misdirection. All of the rumors and signs suggested that Ukrainian forces would launch their initial assault in the South, potentially even being the largest counter-offensive in history. Instead, Ukraine launched its counterattack on the unsuspecting Russian forces in the Northeast, liberating an area the size of Delaware in just 72 hours. 

Later that evening, we all agreed that the van’s engine would have to be replaced. I began making phone calls to obtain a new van. Friends came to my rescue. They had a van I could use. I would only have to travel by train to pick it up. 

I ran into Annie again before I left Brody... only an hour after saying goodbye. She had a job in a local restaurant, and seeing her so soon after having said goodbye was hilarious. I have kept in touch with her since. Recently, she was reunited with her parents. Her parents have a phenomenal story of their escape. I want to preserve Annie and her family’s anonymity for their continued safety. To accomplish this, I have redacted some bits from her story. I have also made a few grammatical changes to her work for context and translation.

Hello. I want to tell you what has happened and is happening in Kherson, Ukraine. 

80% of the population of the city of Kherson fled the Russian invasion. About 20% remained. Those who remained lived in fear. The city was immediately occupied by Russians. People were kidnapped, and while we have asked who was lucky enough to be released, many are still unknown. Most likely, they are simply dead. Everything possible was looted, destroyed, and raped... cars were stolen, and many other terrible things happened in Kherson during the 9 months of Russian occupation. People were afraid to leave the house because they might not return, including my parents.

Many people died at the hands of Russian soldiers, not from mere weapons, but from their hands!

When the Russian occupiers realized that they would soon lose Kherson, they destroyed all the vital infrastructure. There was no electricity, water, or gas in Kherson for almost a month. People collected water from puddles from the rain, and there are many videos to confirm this. Only those who had generators had electricity. The people of Kherson banded together to survive. Those who had something gave and helped. There was no gas at all. That is, there was no way to stay warm. The people of Kherson lived in such conditions for another three weeks after the liberation of Kherson. There is water again in Kherson, but they give it for only an hour a day. The situation is the same with electricity. But every day, Kherson is brought back to life. Rescue workers, medical aid, Ukrainian police, shops, and post office, what was destroyed by Russians or did not exist at all, are now working. Today, Kherson is under fire from the East side of the Kherson region. Ukrainians need humanitarian aid! And our defenders need military help in the form of weapons and equipment! Russians shoot at the defenseless civilian population, destroying buildings and lives.

My parents lived for 8 months under Russian occupation. They lived in fear and without help. I fled with my older sister and her child back in April. All those 8 months, we begged our parents to flee, but they did not listen to us because they would not leave what they had acquired all their lives: our house, their business, and much more. They also could not leave our relatives, who live in villages on the east side of the Dnipro River. One time, they went to their grandmother's village 200km from Kherson and almost died because they came under artillery fire. Fortunately, everything turned out okay, and they were able to get back home unharmed. After that, we persuaded my parents to leave. But the central persuasion came from my father's health, which could not be treated in Kherson any longer because there were no doctors or medicines left.

They left on a Sunday morning. They had to travel through Crimea, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, and finally Poland to return to us in Western Ukraine. The journey was very scary. All of their things were searched. My father was stripped down to his underwear and threatened that he would be put in a prisoner car and would be used as cannon fodder. They checked absolutely everything for the presence of Ukrainian symbols, familiarity with the Armed Forces, and anything that crossed the Russian culture. They waited on the border with Crimea for 6 hours. And it took them 23 hours for Russia-Latvia customs. You wouldn't wish such a journey even on an enemy. When they crossed the border with Latvia, finally, they felt free again. They shouted, "Glory to Ukraine!”

They were on the road nonstop for 5 days and traveled over 4,000km. We were reunited with them on November 10, 2022. Kherson was liberated on November 11, 2022. But it is very dangerous there still, and we cannot return home. We currently reside in a two-room apartment; there are 6 of us, but the main thing is that our family is together again, and no matter how difficult it is, we will overcome anything! Life goes on, and life is the main thing!

If my parents had decided to flee Kherson even a day later, there would have been no more opportunities. After that day, there was no electricity, water, or heat. I should tell you how my parents were able to survive in Russian-occupied Kherson for 8 months and what our house is like today. Mom worked in the market, and Dad went shopping! Back in the first days of the war, my father and I bought a generator, gasoline, water, and food in large quantities. We had enough provisions that would allow us to survive in a place where there was no civilization. After fleeing, our family friends live in our house, and they use what is left of our reserves in exchange for looking after our belongings. As of today, December 14th, the situation in Kherson is getting worse and worse. Russians shell the area continuously. We don’t know if we will have a home to return to.