When Spring Returns UKRAINE | Nikki White
Unlike thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine, Yulia was desperate to get back. She had just received news that her son, a soldier, had been killed. “I will never forget the day I heard about his death,” Yulia said. “My son, Ignat, he was most wonderful. When my husband died, Ignat was only nine. He would always help, taking his little sister, Victoria, to school, catching fish to sell. One time, he sold his motorcycle to buy me a gift for Mother’s Day!”
Yulia felt that she had no choice but to leave the safety of Poland and, against the tide of evacuees, return to Ukraine. At the very least, Yulia thought in anguish, she could try to recover his body. But more than that, she wanted to save her sixteen-year-old daughter who was still trapped in Mariupol. Yulia felt that she had no choice but to leave the safety of Poland and, against the tide of evacuees, return to Ukraine. Memories of her son competed with anxious thoughts about her daughter. Victoria had remained in their small village in southeastern Ukraine when Yulia left for Poland to find work to support the family. When Russia invaded, Victoria went to the city of Mariupol where her grandmother lived. After a time, she tried to return to her 12 | witness
village, but found it occupied by Russian soldiers, their house destroyed, their belongings looted. “She hid in broken-down houses,” Yulia said. “When she got back to Mariupol, her clothes were shredded, torn by flying fragments of glass from the shelling. Things got worse and worse. As she traveled, she was turned back many times.” Victoria hoped to make it to Zaporizhzhia, where many refugees were gathering on their journey to the western borders. But it was not easy to find transportation. Day after day, she was turned away. “Hold on,” her mother told her, “I am coming.” Yulia made it to Dnipro where her son’s body lay. There, she was given a small Ukrainian flag, in memory of Ignat. She added it to her small backpack, where a pair of sweatpants were wrapped around her documents. Then she carried on to Zaporizhzhia, in hopes of being reunited with Victoria. As she arrived in Zaporizhzhia, Yulia was caught in a cold downpour. In addition to her clothes being soaking wet, she was exhausted, and her health was failing. Victoria was still in Berdyansk, several hours away. At a collection point, Yulia begged for help in evacuating her daughter from Berdyansk, only to be told that there were no green corridors of safety—no one was willing to risk the drive.
