Story 9: Tetyana

Tetyana was a 25 y.o. young woman working as a freelance journalist. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, she lived in Mariupol, but in March 2022 the woman together with her mother and brother were forcibly deported to Russia.

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. They told them to get out of the shelter and obey the orders, if not, they would shoot.

Tetyana, her mother and brother were first taken from Mariupol to filtration camps in Bezimmene village, Donetsk region. The road took very long because the Russian soldiers didn’t know the route. Having finally reached the destination after almost a day, Tetyana’s family went through filtration. Their phones, bodies, and documents were meticulously observed by Russians.

After filtration in a camp in Bezimmene village, Tanya’s family was forcibly deported to Russia. Tetyana didn’t want to disclose the location of temporary accommodation centre they were sent to as there remained many forcibly deported Ukrainians, which could put a threat on them. In Russia, Tetyana had distant relatives, whom she asked for help as her deported family had no documents or money. The relatives helped them to reach the Russian-Estonian border. It took a couple of days, but Tetyana’s family finally escaped tp Europe, where they stay now. There, the woman entered a university, but the memories of filtration camps and forcible deportation still haunt her.