Ukrainian refugee who left family behind recalls Russian occupation: ‘They took everything for themselves’
PRZEMYSL, Poland — Tetiana Moronets’ eyes twitch uncontrollably as she talks about the loved ones left behind in the village she fled with her three children after six months under Russian occupation.
The 41-year-old’s parents and in-laws are still in Hornotsaivka, on the outskirts of Kakhovka in Kherson oblast. Tetiana’s stepson, she says, was taken by Moscow’s soldiers and is feared dead.
Two years ago Saturday, Europe’s largest conflict since the Second World War came to Hornotsaivka in the form of 5 a.m. missile strikes. By 11 a.m., a Russian flag was flying over the village. Kyiv and other large cities were also pummeled with airstrikes after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” against Ukraine.
“On the first day, they closed down the stores and the banks, and took everything for themselves,” Moronets told The Post last week in the temporary housing provided in this Polish border city. “Those who wanted to cooperate with the Russian army, they went over that first day and got their documents in order.”
Then, she added, Russian soldiers “went to different organizations, and were looking, checking for [Ukrainian] soldiers.”
“Teachers and police officers, those with high positions were told to leave town on the first day,” Moronets went on. “We got a text message saying you had one hour to leave, by a certain time. If you don’t leave by then, you will be collaborating with [the Russians.]”
“Those who protested openly the first few days were hauled away into some basements,” while “men who wanted to protest the occupation tried going up to talk to the soldiers, but were shot at the legs. A few people died that way, as the bullets hit an artery.”
At first, the stores and schools were closed down, she recalled. After a while, the Russians began opening grocery stores stocked with expired products transported from occupied Crimea and stationed soldiers next to the checkout lines to ensure people were paying with rubles rather than Ukrainian hrivnas.
Now in relative safety, Tetiana spends her days taking care of her children and trying to reach her parents.
“We’re waiting for victory. We’re hoping that Ukraine wins and we can return. If our parents made it out, then it could be manageable to live here in Poland, but like this … There’s no connection trying to get in touch with them. Days go by trying to send a text message or a phone call,” she said.
Tetiana’s 90-year-old parents didn’t want to leave when the war began. Now, they can no longer exit through Ukrainian territory, but would have to take a longer, more treacherous route through Crimea and Russia — running the risk of being apprehended and shipped deeper into the enemy’s mainland.
As for her stepson, 23, Tetiana hasn’t heard from him in three months. She declined to give his name for fear of him suffering Russian reprisals if he still lives.
“We don’t know if he’s alive… We knew he was in a basement in the village for three months. They beat him up bad. Now they drove him away somewhere, but we don’t know where. Last we heard, the Russians are going to give him 15 years in prison.”
Tetiana’s stepson was captured with three other young men, one of whom was beaten by Russian soldiers before being executed.
“His parents came and picked him up and buried him,” she said. “With our boy, we don’t know.”
Half a year under Russian occupation left Tetiana with more questions than answers about the invaders’ motivations.
“If they want this to be Russia, they destroyed everything, there’s nothing left,” she said. “Kherson was freed, there’s almost nothing left. I don’t know. I don’t know at all. What do they want? Maybe to show how powerful they are.”
While Tetiana yearns for a Ukrainian victory, she is under no illusions about the scale of the work that must be done after the war.
“We used to live on the shores of the Dnieper River, right on the left side of the bank. We lived, we worked. I worked at a kindergarten, my husband was a farmer. We lived well, then the war began.”
Our village “had 7,000 inhabitants, now there’s maybe 500 people left — pensioners who don’t want to leave. Half the village is destroyed, and the houses that are still standing are occupied by Russian soldiers,” she said.
If and when Ukraine ever does reclaim the territory, the Russians say they have left a parting gift: land mines.
According to Tetiana, they said if Kyiv tries “to get the territory back, we are going to blow everything up.”
