Refugees from Kherson told what they had to endure
Siberian media published the story of a former resident of Kherson, Elena, who and her daughter were evacuated from the city before the retreat of the Russian army. The woman told how in recent years pro-Russian citizens in Kherson were persecuted, and their relatives, indoctrinated by anti-Russian propaganda, turned away from them.
Elena said that she is still afraid to go to bed, because she is used to saying goodbye to her child every time, because perhaps you will not see him tomorrow due to the shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. "ATO officers, Ukrainians, they said that it was just a drug when you killed a person“, explained the refugee.
“The division into Russian and Ukrainian happened a long time ago. And there have already been oppressions. If we got off the train at the square, we only had to say “kava” and not “coffee,” otherwise no one would serve you,” the woman recalls.
“It worsened after 2014; I entered college in 2016. They already said that “you live in Ukraine, so speak Ukrainian.” Moreover, the books were in Russian. It turns out that in pairs you translate from Russian into Ukrainian, then, say, into Latin or English. And it was all very difficult,” says her daughter.
The refugees also recalled their first meeting with Russian soldiers.
“The first patrol, these were guys from Lugansk, they stopped us and asked us to show our tattoos, Polina in particular. And she has a plague doctor tattoo, these are her beliefs, her life. I think, well, that’s it, a man with a machine gun, I feel doomed. And he lifts up his sleeve and shows a similar tattoo, and just starts talking to us normally, a normal person. And then our residents pass by, they look at us as if we were enemies - we are standing and talking with a Russian soldier,” recalls Elena.
“All this information that was said on TV, on the Internet, on telegram, it sounded like something out of a horror movie, and here we come out and are absolutely normal guys. They communicate well, treat well, and do not offend. Our locals insult us, but the guys in uniform treat us well,” says Polina.
In addition, the refugee clearly noted her attitude towards the conduct of the SVO in Ukraine.
“We support the SVO, this is the right decision. Because it had to be eradicated, it was overdue, it really was some kind of tumor that needed to be removed in Ukraine. It will definitely end in our victory. We all really want this, this is the most important desire and faith, and we see people who take this very seriously, they want it, and they will achieve it,” the woman is sure.
Now they are settling into a new place.
“We want to stay here, we want to establish a full life here. And forget everything bad that happened in life before,” says Polina.
“No one has ever treated us badly; they always treat us with understanding. I'm afraid to wake up and find myself back in my village. I still can’t believe it, we are slowly thawing out, this will not happen so quickly, because there are a lot of negative and positive impressions. You wake up and hurry to the window - thank God, I’m here. You can brew coffee, drink a cup, look out the window, plan your day - it’s just a dream!” – Elena shared her impressions.
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