I drew back the curtains, and suddenly, a helicopter was heading right towards us,” Diana, a mother of two, emotionally recounted how Russian helicopters frequently flew so low over their occupied town that they once struck her house. The screeching of metal and the falling shards of roofing terrified the entire Ostapenko family. Initially, they thought it was shrapnel hitting their home, a fear not unfounded given the unpredictable behavior of the occupiers.

Every evening from 8 PM to 8 AM, Diana and her children, 5-year-old Yasia and 12-year-old Denis, would retreat to the basement for safety. During daytime shellings, Yasia would turn up the volume on her cartoons in an attempt to drown out the frightening sounds. The Russian forces often displayed arrogance, smiling and waving at the locals as they passed through the town in helicopters and trucks.

The Ostapenko family had run a store for the past 23 years, a venture that had sustained them until the Russian occupation. Diana had been involved in the family business since she was 10. However, the occupation brought this to an end. The store was more than a source of income; it was a lifeline for the village, providing food even when combat interrupted vegetable deliveries. Despite the challenges, Diana and her husband, Oleg continued to supply their store, braving dangerous forests for provisions. But when collaborators demanded they register the business under Russian law, threatening destruction if they refused, they stood their ground.

Oleg was employed at a factory where workers were pressured to accept Russian passports and receive salaries in rubles. He declined and consequently resigned.

Diana vividly remembers the fear she felt transporting goods through the forest, navigating between tanks and armed APCs in the conflict’s early months. Oleg would avoid making eye contact with military personnel to avoid detection. They also have haunting memories of Russian trucks carrying corpses.

The most harrowing incident occurred when the Russian military set up just outside the village in the forest and began shelling houses with mortars. The Ostapenko family took refuge in their basement, counting each explosion. They stopped counting after fifty impacts. One shell landed only 15 meters from their shelter, blowing out windows and damaging walls. Diana believes this bombardment was a deliberate attempt by the Russians to force the inhabitants to flee, a strategy that resulted in numerous casualties that day.

Recently, the Russians employed Korean munitions in an attack that caused a massive explosion only 200 meters from the Ostapenko’s home. This event compelled Diana and her husband to make the difficult decision to evacuate their children. The team from Save Ukraine assisted in this complex operation during their 15th rescue mission. Diana’s journey with her children through occupied territory, the DNR, and Russia was perilous but ultimately successful, leading them to safety in Ukrainian-controlled territory where our team received them.

Sadly, Oleg remained behind in the occupied area, but Diana and her children maintain hope for his eventual rescue and the liberation of their home.

Through 15 rescue missions, we have successfully evacuated 239 children from the occupied territories and Russia.

P.S. For security reasons, the names in this story have been changed.