“HIMARS will arrive and that’s it”: a refugee family with nine children is looking for housing in Russia

On the night of May 4, four-year-old Lada Solodovnik woke up from the sharp sounds of gunshots in the courtyard of the house.

The girl ran to her mother with the words: “Mom, they are shooting at us!”

In fact, the shootout was not close to the house in Berdyansk, where the family lived, but because of the acoustics, the shots seemed closer than they were.

“We think it was a skirmish with Ukrainian saboteurs who sometimes penetrated Berdyansk.

They shot somewhere on our street.

Even the younger children quickly understood what was happening, they were very scared.

This was the last straw, and the next morning my husband went to write us on the lists for evacuation to Russia, ”recalls 36-year-old mother of nine children Natalya Solodovnik.

By that time, she had managed to get stronger after giving birth: in March, the woman gave birth to a daughter, Alexandra, the ninth child in their family.

According to Natalya, she and her husband have been thinking about moving since the end of February, when there was no gas in the city due to a damaged gas pipeline, and electricity was supplied intermittently.

There was a period when there were no medicines in pharmacies, and there was not enough food: for example, prices for sugar, flour, and yeast rose sharply.

In addition, in the spring, the head of the family, Andrey Solodovnik, lost his job in the construction industry, because his services became irrelevant.

“It was not life, but existence”

Berdyansk came under the control of the allied forces of the Russian Federation and the DPR by February 28.

There were no hostilities in the city itself, but it was still unsafe to stay there, because there were hostilities nearby, Andrei says.

The family lived in a house just 500 meters from the seaport, which the Ukrainian army repeatedly tried to shell.

However, Russian air defense successfully repelled these attacks.

Nevertheless, on March 24, the large landing ship (BDK) Saratov, which was standing in the port, was damaged as a result of shelling with Tochka-U ballistic missiles.

This was later announced by Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the region.

The Solodovnik family remembers this explosion not far from their home.

“It was not life, but existence.

Fighting was going on 50 km from Berdyansk.

With such terrible weapons, which are supplied from Europe and America, we are within easy reach.

How to live normally if you fall asleep with the thought that some kind of HIMARS (HIMARS multiple launch rocket system capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 80 km. MLRS has been delivered to Ukraine from the USA since June.

) ?

And why did we raise children then, made plans for the future?

We left the war,” says Andrei.

The family was evacuated from Berdyansk to the Yaroslavl region.

Here, a large family, in which the youngest child was barely two months old, stopped at a temporary accommodation center (TAP) based on the Sosnovy Bor sanatorium.

Now 11 family members occupy two rooms and a small entrance hall, where, in addition to a table and a shoe rack, there is also a bunk bed for two middle sons.

The family has already applied for Russian citizenship and hopes to stay in Yaroslavl.

A few weeks after arriving at the TAP, Andrei found a job in the city in his specialty - he makes bathrooms.

The man completed several orders and receives new ones, but so far he cannot start working on a permanent basis, because he does not have a car, and it is not so easy to get from the sanatorium 45 km to Yaroslavl every day.

• The Solodovnik family at lunch at the TAP.

• © Frame: RT video

“At a job fair that was held at the TAP, I met people who offered me to do a couple of jobs - lay tiles, install bathtubs - to see how I work.

Customers liked everything, they invite me.

Also, for example, there is a woman who needs to make a bathroom from scratch.

I'm ready, but I can't get to the city every day without a car.

One businessman lent me a car for a while, but then took it away,” says Andrei.

After settling in the TAP, Solodovniki received the 10,000 rubles promised by the state for each family member.

These 110,000 spouses have put aside and hope to buy a suitable vehicle, such as a used Gazelle, which will be convenient for taking children to school and commuting.

"Perfect solution"

Now the main problem for a family of 11 is finding permanent housing.

The temporary accommodation facility in which they live is not designed to permanently accommodate a large family.

Andrei tried to rent an apartment or a private house in Yaroslavl or near the city, but the rental prices are too high for a large family with one person working.

In addition, many landlords refuse when they find out that a large refugee family wants to move into the house.

“Prices start at 40,000 rubles – this is the minimum for small housing, most of the offers are more expensive.

I have often been asked what nationality we are.

When they find out that we have nine children and that we are refugees from Ukraine, they directly say that they don’t want to rent out housing so that we don’t ruin the repair, ”says the head of the family.

In Berdyansk, the family left half of the house in which they lived.

Now they rent this housing for free to refugees from Mariupol.

“Many residents of neighboring Mariupol came to our city, who do not want to travel far, but were left without their homes.

We allowed one family to stay with us.

How can we take money from them for this?

We know what it's like when you had plans for the future, your house, and suddenly everything had to start from scratch, ”the Solodovniks add.

Five children from the Solodovnik family will have to go to a Russian school in three weeks to continue their education.

But their parents still do not know where to apply, because the family does not have registration and permanent housing. 

The eldest son in the family, 18-year-old Leo, has already graduated from school, although the guy did not have a graduation.

Now he plans to go to college to study law.

In Berdyansk, he graduated from the 11th grade, but so far he has not been able to enter the university, because there was no time to prepare for the Russian exam.

• From left to right: Eldar, Lev and Mikhail Solodovnik.

• © Frame: RT video

Another goal is to save up for a MIDI keyboard with which Leo can write music.

Together with his 16-year-old brother Mikhail and a former classmate, he plays in a rock band.

“My best friend records the vocals,” Lev says.

He had not seen him since the spring.

His family moved to Ireland.

But they communicate on social networks and plan to record vocals and music separately, and then mix on a computer.

“The group is called The Shining Flows Down.

We already have four demos on our computer that need to be completed: somewhere to re-record the vocals, somewhere to add bits.

We keep in touch with my friend, we will do all this at a distance, ”Leo shares his plans. 

His brother Mikhail, who is learning to play the guitar himself and has already been able to buy this instrument with his own money, wants to go to college to major in music, but fears that he will not pass the points.

He did not have time to properly prepare for the new exam format for him.

“I think that Misha needs to finish his studies until the 11th grade.

By this time, we will have settled here, the children will get used to it, make friends and it will be clear how to live on,” says his mother Natalia Solodovnik.

The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Yaroslavl Region, Sergei Baburkin, in an interview with RT, notes that the city authorities could help the Solodovnik family by allocating social housing, but this has its own difficulties.

• Natalya Solodovnik with her youngest daughter Alexandra.

• © Frame: RT video

“The city has a flexible fund, from which social housing is provided to people who find themselves in a difficult life situation.

Our family has not yet received Russian citizenship, this can become a problem.

I sent a letter to the deputy chairman of the regional government with a request to consider this situation privately.

Still, we are talking about a large family in which the father works and tries to provide for the children, just so far this does not always work out due to difficult circumstances.

I have not yet received a response to my appeal, ”the interlocutor says.

In addition, social housing is usually small premises, and it is extremely difficult to accommodate a family of 11 in them, Baburkin adds. 

“I know that Andrei has already taken the initiative and tried to look for housing on his own, but faced a negative attitude from the owners when they find out that we are talking about nine children.

For middle-aged children, parents have already done all the necessary documents and medical examinations to send them to school, but so far they cannot decide on an institution, because there is no connection to housing, ”he notes.

According to the ombudsman, the second option for the family is to find a benefactor who can provide them with suitable housing.

“This would be an ideal solution to the problem: if a businessman or other private person would agree to help a large family with housing.

Then the children could go to school and the parents to work.

When they receive Russian citizenship, they will be able to count on more comprehensive support from the state as citizens of Russia and a large family,” summed up Sergey Baburkin.