Stefan Vorontsov is a Ukrainian volunteer who secretly trains those that need to depart occupied Ukraine.
He advised Business Insider what it is wish to evacuate and put together for border management.
He stated Ukrainians might be interrogated for six hours on the border put up.
This essay relies on a dialog with Stefan Vorontsova Ukrainian who fled Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka in early 2022. His group, Humanity, has helped greater than 6,000 Ukrainians depart southern and jap Ukraine.
Vorontsov is attempting to boost public consciousness of the scenario on the border and restricted his interview to data that he stated wouldn’t compromise the protection of displaced folks. The following has been edited for size and readability.
Ukrainians who need to depart Russian occupation have just one path: Russia itself.
It is simply too harmful to cross the entrance line, so we now have to undergo Crimea or Rostov-on-Don. Each of them has a border put up that provides Ukrainians entry to Russia, however it’s extremely troublesome to cross them.
Russian border authorities consistently test folks to catch pro-Ukrainian partisans or punish those that have relations within the Ukrainian forces. One mistake can imply you go to jail or by no means get out.
When a displaced Ukrainian contacts us, we give him a “legend” as a present. It is the false story we now have to create about why they need to enter Russia, about their households, about their nationwide id and about their previous.
For instance, sick folks can say that they need to go to a Russian hospital, and households can say that they need to go to the Black Sea and calm down on the seashore.
Ukrainians within the occupied Kherson space sometimes attempt to depart Crimea, whereas these within the Mariupol and southern Donbas areas move by means of Rostov-on-Don. Vorontsov stated Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhansk typically do not want as a lot assist since journey restrictions there are extra lax.Screenshot/Google Maps
It is far more troublesome for younger Ukrainians, particularly those that are reported by Russia for posting pro-Ukrainian posts on-line. For these folks, we want to verify their legend is robust.
In most instances, I take advantage of Telegram’s “secret chat” function to ship considerate messages to an evacuee. I’ve to be delicate with what I inform them as a result of I do know Russia would possibly be capable of learn each phrase I write.
Russians are on the lookout for the whole lot about you
There are many explanation why the Ukrainians didn’t flee earlier than the arrival of the Russian military. Many are sick. Many have kids. Even if the conflict is at the doorstep, in your streets, it’s so troublesome to make the choice to depart your house completely.
Vorontsov’s organisation, Humanity, claims to have helped greater than 2,000 Ukrainian kids depart the occupied territories.Stefan Vorontsov
Over the years, I’ve realized that 95% of the success of an evacuation relies on preparation earlier than the particular person walks out the door.
The most necessary factor Ukrainians have to do is clear up their telephones.
The Russians management the whole lot on the border put up and are all the time looking out for folks with pro-Ukrainian concepts.
Evacuees should put together to be interviewed for six hours on the border put up, the place guards will meticulously look at the whole lot about them: their telephones, their social media posts and search historical past.
Anything associated to Ukraine can interact you. Ukrainian phrases, textual content messages from relations, images of the Ukrainian flag, and even the colours blue and yellow may get you into bother. The guards can see in the event you favored or subscribed to a pro-Ukraine social media channel.
It is particularly necessary to delete maps. Russians do not like maps and suppose you’ll use them to ship coordinates.
Even images of metropolis buildings or places is usually a entice as a result of they may very well be labeled as proof of Russian positions.
The Russians will have a look at your cellphone contacts and name historical past and attempt to discover numbers from their database of pro-Ukrainian folks or Ukrainian troopers. Even if it is an unknown quantity to you, you can nonetheless get caught if it is associated to somebody Russians do not like.
We additionally contemplate the kind of cellphone our evacuees use. If they use an Android cellphone, it is vitally simple for Russians to get well loads of their deleted knowledge, corresponding to messages and images from the final two or three years.
To assist their trigger, we generally inform evacuees so as to add some Russian taste to their digital story by following some Telegram channels or subscribing to pro-Russian YouTubers.
Survive the checkpoint
Our group ensures free evacuation to those that need to escape and we attempt to plan each step for them. We prepare for licensed bus drivers to take them to Crimea or Rostov-on-Don, and if they cannot get to the gathering level on their very own, we pay for taxis, meals or hostel lodging.
Ukrainians fleeing after arriving on the Odessa railway station.Stefan Vorontsov
But we now have to compete with Russian drivers, who come from the East and supply determined Ukrainians journey to Russia for 400 {dollars} per journey. We pay our drivers lower than $50 per particular person.
At the border the interviewers will attempt to provoke the displaced. They will ask inquiries to anger Ukrainians and catch them out in the event that they assist Ukraine.
This is the place the legend of a displaced particular person is so necessary.
If, for instance, their brother is within the Ukrainian military, they need to by no means inform the Russians. They ought to attempt to speak about how a lot they hate the conflict and fake to be as impartial as attainable. Sometimes it’s helpful to say that they’re uninterested in the Ukrainian authorities.
The penalties of failing to move the checkpoint might be extreme. You can get caught in occupied Ukraine. Or you may go to jail. Or they will ship you to the depths of Russia with out telling anybody.
Dozens of my buddies, colleagues and displaced folks have disappeared throughout this journey and I do not know the place they’re.
The aged, kids and the sick typically have a neater time, however it’s changing into more and more troublesome to depart occupied Ukraine. When I left Ukraine in early 2022, 40 days had handed for the reason that Russians took Nova Kakhovka.
Many of the displaced folks helped by Vorontsov are aged, disabled or sick.Stefan Vorontsov
Back then the Russians thought they might take our nation rapidly. They discovered images and data on my cellphone revealing that I used to be pro-Ukrainian, however one way or the other I managed to get to Georgia by mendacity. Now they attempt to bend all Ukrainians, even previous grandmothers and moms.
Since January 2024, Russia has additionally required all Ukrainians to acquire a Russian passport for permission to cross the border. This has made our job far more troublesome and launched new problems. Boys and males, even these as younger as 15, are pressured to hitch the Russian military when making use of for passports.
If a Ukrainian manages to beat all these obstacles and move the border put up, he can go to Moscow. From there, they will take a prepare to Belarus or Europe and presumably return to unoccupied Ukraine.
The complete course of takes about 4 days. As for me, I needed to undergo a second checkpoint and undergo one other four-hour interview on the way in which to Georgia, the place I stayed for six months. Now I’m in Western Europe serving to coordinate evacuations.
We do not receives a commission for what we do. In 2024, my group helped evacuate 360 Ukrainians, together with 106 kids, for a complete of $23,500. We additionally evacuated a horse and dozens of canines and cats.
We increase funds for prepare tickets, bus journey and different bills for displaced folks. We have a mission: to save lots of the Ukrainian folks, to save lots of the Ukrainian nation. This mission is our driving power, our gas.
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