Story 16: Yulia
Yulia and her two sons, Ivan, 5, and Matthew, 11, were forcibly deported to Russia. The family was forced to undergo several filtration camps, but abandoned Russian passports and escaped from captivity.
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Story 28: Anna
Anna, 17, was on the verge of finishing school in Mariupol when Russia started the full-scale war against Ukraine. By late March 2022, life in the besieged city had become unbearable — there was no drinking water, heat, or food. Anna and her mother contemplated fleeing to Ukraine-controlled territory, but Russian forces persistently shelled the evacuation routes, making the risk of death high. In this manner, the Russians restricted the citizens’ freedom of movement, leaving them with only one way out of Mariupol — toward Russia. This constitutes forced deportation, as people are left with no choice but to relocate to the aggressor’s country. On April 4th, Anna and her mother opted for this route to escape Mariupol.
Anna
They were fortunate to bypass the filtration camp at the Russian border. However, all the men on their bus were interrogated. Some never returned to the bus; one man was even robbed and nearly suffered a nervous breakdown.
Anna and her mother were initially taken to a temporary accommodation center in Taganrog, Russia, which was a sports school. They were allowed to stay there for just one day. According to Anna, the Russians seemed friendly and naive, as if convinced they were rescuing “poor Ukrainians” from “Nazis”. They provided the deportees with hygiene products, food, and SIM cards, and even suggested taking out mortgages. All these actions appeared aimed at encouraging the deported Ukrainians to remain in Russia for as long as possible.
Anna had distant relatives in Russia and contacted them to pick her up from the temporary accommodation center. This was the only reason her family was not further relocated within Russia, as all other deportees at that center were forcibly moved to Vladivostok.
Eventually, Anna and her mother made it to the Russia-Finland border. Russian authorities tried to dissuade them, claiming they would be a burden to Finland and suggesting they’d be better off staying in Russia. They even interrogated Anna’s mother. Despite these obstacles, the family managed to cross the border. After being forcibly deported from Mariupol and enduring hardships in Russia, they now reside in Finland.
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Story 6: Yevhen
To survive Russian massive strikes on Mariupol, Yevhen with his son Matvii and daughter Svyatoslava were hiding in bomb shelters. In April, when Russian soldiers came, they gave people only 30 minutes to prepare for the forcible deportation, which they called “evacuation”.
Story 9: Tetyana
Tetyana, 25, together with her mother and brother were forcibly deported to Russia from Mariupol in March 2022. The family was hiding in bomb shelters from the start of the full-scale invasion, but they were evicted from there by approaching Russian troops.