Natalia and her large family endured nearly two years under occupation in their southern Ukrainian village until December 2023. They were subjected to searches, pressure, and even forced to obtain Russian passports to protect their children. Despite hopes for Ukrainian forces to liberate them, it never happened. The Russians heavily pressured the family to leave the occupied area.

Most of their neighbors fled, abandoning their homes to the Russian occupants. Those who stayed faced constant document checks by individuals from the Caucasus. Residents were pressured into accepting Russian passports and enrolling their children in Russian schools. Natalia, a mother of nine with four adult and five minor children, struggled increasingly in the village.

Initially, they managed with financial aid from Russia for the children, using Ukrainian passports. However, demands to update their documents intensified. Natalia’s son Valentin, having finished 9th grade in 2022, joined a local vocational school for welding, attending online classes. When the Russians discovered this two months later, they subjected him to psychological intimidation, claiming that studying in a Ukrainian institution was criminal.

The family, under extreme pressure, grudgingly secured a certificate from a Russian school after enduring humiliation for two days. Natalia’s youngest, six-year-old Alexandra, was enrolled in a daycare with a Russian curriculum. Natalia warned her about the harsh realities of Russia, recalling a friend who was shot after moving to Dnipro. This led Alexandra to avoid expressing any positive views about Russia at home.

Living under occupation, they clung to hope for Ukraine’s return. In November of the previous year, FSB agents visited Natalia’s three sons’ school, forcing them to register with the Russian military. The school director coerced all senior students to enlist. In early December, the Russians announced mandatory inspections for Russian documents starting in 2024. Non-compliance would result in a three-month emigrant card or deportation.

Unwilling to comply with military registration, Natalia and her older children in Poland raised funds for their escape to Ukraine. Paying 90,000 rubles, they left everything behind, taking only essentials, a Sphynx cat, and a Chihuahua. Natalia secretly took a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag, hiding it in her bra.

Upon reaching the Ukrainian border on foot, Natalia revealed the flag to her children. Volunteers from Save Ukraine welcomed them in Sumy Oblast, providing essentials and financial aid. After spending a month at a Save Ukraine center, they recently moved into their own modular house in Kolomyia. Though still in need of many household items, they are now safe and starting to rebuild their lives.