Kyiv accuses Moscow of transferring more than a million Ukrainians to Russia

Refugees recount their journey out of Mariupol and forced to go to Russia

• Evan Drews.

  AFP

• Tatiana.

  AFP

• Russia's scorched earth policy in Ukraine has displaced millions of Ukrainians.

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Ukrainians who fled the strategic city of Mariupol, captured by the Russians, after a weeks-long siege, told AFP that they were forced to leave for Russia, instead of other Ukrainian regions, without "we were given any other choice".

Tatiana, a 38-year-old accountant, told AFP that after spending weeks hiding in an underground floor in the center of Mariupol, and after her father was killed in a missile strike, she decided to leave the city to save her nine-year-old daughter.

In the absence of mobile phone networks, and any other means of communication, I took advantage of the pause in the bombing operations to go to a gathering point identified by the authorities, and inquire about the possibilities of leaving.

Officials of the evacuations, then appointed by the pro-Russian authorities, told her that departure was possible only for Russia.

“We were shocked that we did not want to go to Russia,” she said by phone from Riga, Latvia, where she is now a refugee with her family.

How do we go to a country that wants to kill us?”

Several weeks ago, the Ukrainian authorities accused Moscow of having "illegally transferred" more than a million Ukrainians to Russia and to regions in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.

A Russian Defense Ministry official, Mikhail Mizintsev, confirmed this number.

But Moscow asserts that its only goal is to allow civilians to "get out of dangerous areas."

Some civilians are sometimes forced, de facto, to go to Russia, as the battles prevent them from crossing the front line.

After passing through Russia, Elizaveta, from the city of Izyum in the Russian-occupied Kharkiv region, arrived in Estonia.

She confirms to AFP that this happened "because it was impossible to go to Ukraine."

"Investigation"

But in the case of Tatiana and two other families from Mariupol, where three months of bombing killed at least 20,000 people, Kyiv said, it was Russian forces that made the decision on her behalf.

Svetlana, an employee of a large industrial company, was in a basement with her husband and parents in a neighborhood east of Mariupol, when Russian soldiers ordered them to leave for an area controlled by Russian forces.

"When an armed man tells you to do something, you can't refuse," said the 46-year-old Ukrainian, who asked to change her name to protect her family.

I was then able to move to Lviv in Ukraine, near the border with Poland.

After crossing a roadblock, her family was taken first to the small town of Novoazovsk, which is held by pro-Russian separatists, about 40 kilometers east of Mariupol, where they spent four days in school, and then to Starobiševsk, 80 kilometers north in the breakaway region.

They ended up in a crowded cultural center, “where people slept on the floor on pieces of cloth,” said Svetlana, adding, “The worst of it was the smell of fetid feet and filthy bodies, which haunted our belongings despite the frequent washing.”

Three days later, the family underwent an "investigation" session, which is an obligatory stage.

In a building belonging to the pro-Russian separatist police, the family had to answer written questions to find out if they had relatives in the Russian army, and take their fingerprints and smartphones for verification.

In another hall, men had to undress to check for the absence of patriotic tattoos or injuries during the fighting.

“My husband had to take off all his clothes except for his underwear and socks,” Svetlana recounted.

We have also removed all photos and social networks from our phones,” fearing reprisals, for “our pro-Ukrainian stances.”

Rejection is impossible

Ivan Druz, who left Mariupol with his half-brother, in April, has been subject to these Russian checks in Strabyshevé.

Then he hoped to move to an area controlled by Kyiv, but after five days of chaotic shifts in the territory controlled by the pro-Russian separatists, “We asked how we could move to the Ukrainian side, and we were told it was impossible,” the 23-year-old asserted. Who then took refuge in Riga.

"At first they exhaust you, and then they tell you that you can only leave in one direction," he said.

Arriving at the Russian border, he had to undress and answer questions about exchanges in Ukrainian with his aunt: “They asked me why do you write to me in Ukrainian?

They wanted to verify that I was not a Nazi.”

"We understand very well that everything they are doing is illegal," Svetlana added.

But it is not possible to refuse.

This is impossible.”

As soon as we arrived in Russia, the families of Tatiana and Ivan were directed to Taganrog, about 100 kilometers from Mariupol.

When they arrived, the Russian authorities asked them to take the train to Vladimir, more than 1,000 kilometers to the north.

From there Ivan and his brother had to leave this time towards Murom, 130 kilometers to the southeast, eventually reaching a hotel for refugees.

"All this trip is a series of options made in advance on our behalf," Ivan stressed, adding that "everything is organized in such a way that people stay in Russia, as if they are trying to move people to live in cities where no one wants to live," although no one has been detained or He receives threats.

He said that the hotel was crowded with Ukrainians, especially the elderly, who had to stay in Murom, because they did not have the necessary funds or knowledge in Russia.

"They wanted to send us to the ends of their country, so that we could not tell the truth about the massacre" organized by Russia in Mariupol, she said.

Thanks to Russian friends, the families of Ivan, Tatian and Svetlana were finally able to make their way to Moscow, from where they took buses to Latvia and Estonia, where they knew Ukrainian refugees were well received.

"When we arrived in Latvia, we finally felt free," Tatiana said.

• Several weeks ago, the Ukrainian authorities accused Moscow of "transferring illegally" more than a million Ukrainians to Russia and to areas in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Moscow separatists.

• Some civilians are sometimes forced, de facto, to go to Russia, as the battles prevent them from crossing the front line.

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