Story 7: Natalia

Natalia, an 82 y.o. Elderly woman, lived in Mariupol for the whole of her life. During the siege of Mariupol in late February–March 2022, she had to abandon her flat as it was hit by a Russian rocket, and constantly live in the basement of the building with other people. At the end of March, Russian troops found her and took her to a filtration camp, first in Mariupol, then in Donetsk region. Interrogating the women, Russians took away her passport and proposed to either stay there, in the filtration camp, and be shot, or be deported to Russia. Natalia chose the last.

Together with other elderly people, Natalia was deported to Astrachan, Russia. They were placed in a nursing home for elderly. Russians forced these people to take Russian passports to receive pension from the aggressor’s government, thus forcibly becoming Russian citizens. Natalia refused to accept the passport. The woman stays in a nursing home without any documents and cannot come back to Ukraine.