Tales of survival: Ukrainians flee war through enemy territory

In the 52 days since Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 4.7 million have fled the country, mostly into Europe. In the month since New Zealand introduced its visa category designed to reunite some Ukrainians here with their loved ones fleeing war, 40 have arrived in Aotearoa. 1News reporter Corazon Miller met with some of them. Here are their stories:

It was always a matter of when, not if, military action would return to Sloviansk.

In 2014 the city that Olha Turska and Andrii Mischenko called home was invaded by pro-Russian separatists. The industrial hub in the Donetsk region was held for 84 days and while the fighting subsided, it never truly ended. The war was ongoing.

But the couple were willing to hope and slowly reconstruct their livelihood. They had just rebuilt their home when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

They considered leaving then. But now numb to the sounds of war, they made no immediate plan to flee, even though they knew that once Russian troops arrived they would have little chance of surviving.

"The Kremlin agents didn't just consider us patriotic. They knew we had family in Lviv, where they think 'Nazis' are from and therefore being shot on the spot was a guaranteed fact for us," Mischenko said.

"And this is if you are lucky, as we could also be tortured in some basement for a week or two before being shot."

It's what they say happened to many in the city back in 2014 - and what they fear will happen again.

Sloviansk may be the next flashpoint in Russia's latest war with Ukraine as it focuses its firepower on south-eastern areas of the country. The city is seen as having a strategically significant position that if in Russia's control could give it easier access into the West.

Watching from 17,000 kilometres away in her apartment in central Auckland, Kate Turska was desperate to get her parents out of harm's way, but says in the early days they were "stubborn" and refused to plan.

"I didn't sleep for the first two weeks of the war at all," she said.

Her mother says in those early days the biggest question was "where to?" They had no family or friends elsewhere in Europe, and they sensed the war would not be over quickly.

"We didn't feel like we would be safe anywhere in Ukraine," Olha Turska said. "Where it is safe today, is not necessarily safe tomorrow."

On March 15, the New Zealand Government announced it was creating a 2022 Special Ukraine Visa for Ukrainian New Zealanders - a guaranteed path away from the violence.

So they finally made a plan to leave their home behind. In a borrowed car, they made the journey from west to east, finding petrol and ATMs with money wherever they could.

"We were travelling areas that were safe, but we didn't know if at any point a rocket could come at any place, but we couldn't concentrate on that too much," she said. "I couldn't relax my shoulders the whole time, I was one knot of nerves."

It took 72 hours for them to get to Hungary - a journey which in peacetime should only have taken 24 hours. It was there they met with their daughter, who'd flown across the world to help bring her parents home.

Arriving in Auckland this week is the first time Olha says she's felt able to feel the weight of what they have gone through.

"Finally you let yourself be tired; the whole time you feel you have to keep a brave face, so you are happy about being safe, but you are thinking about what you left behind."

Ever since the annexation of Crimea in early 2014 many of those with close ties to Ukraine, like Ihor Dubovyi and his wife Lidiia Dubova, have not felt free.

"[Crimea] was a peaceful place before the occupation. It was my favourite place," Dubova recalls. But she says that all changed when Russia arrived eight years ago. The escalation in tensions this year are simply an extension of a war that's been simmering for years.

Days before war broke out, Dubovyi saw an increase in military artillery along Crimea's border - the first sign of what was to come. As Russia invaded other parts of Ukraine, they felt a growing sense of powerlessness as they watched the violence unfold.

"We felt helpless," Dubova said. "And we understand our neighbours their feelings are not the same. They support Putin, and they could call the police because we support Ukraine."

While much of the world does consider Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula as hostile, Russia considers itself to be a liberator of the region.

However, in the years since then, the United Nations and many non-governmental organisations have accused it of multiple human rights abuses. Ethnic Ukrainians in the region often report being discriminated against.

The couple's son, Andrew Dubovyi, had been trying for years to get them to come to New Zealand. The opening of the special visa gave them the long-awaited chance to get out from under what they describe as the Russian occupation.

With Ukrainian territory ensconced in much of the south eastern parts of Ukraine, their only choice was to drive the roughly 2000 kilometres around the nation's border into Belarus, then Lithuania.

But driving in a car with Ukrainian license plates on Russian soil was not risk-free. They finally made it 48 hours later with one brief, but nerve-wracking, stop at a Russian checkpoint.

They travelled further west into the Czech Republic before finally arriving in Auckland this week to be with their son.

Asked if they would like to go back one day, the answer is yes. Their faith that Ukraine will win remains strong even in the face of what seems like a never-ending war.

The elder Dubovyi says he will return one day.

"When Ukraine wins, we'd like to go see the victory parade."

Since New Zealand introduced its visa category for family members of Ukrainians living here, 40 have arrived.

The visa enables New Zealand citizens, residents who were born in Ukraine, or who have Ukrainian citizenship or residency to sponsor their parent, grandparent, sibling or adult children and their partners or dependants. Once here they will be able to work or study, for two years.

People have to first put through an expression of interest before they are invited to formally apply for the visa.

Initial estimates showed up to 4000 could stand to benefit from the new visa. As of April 13, Immigration New Zealand has received a total of 748 expressions of interests - only 54 of which were refused for not meeting the stated criteria.

So far, 355 visa applications have been approved, with another 257 still being processed.

Immigration lawyer Nicola Tiffen says the visa was a welcome start, but is calling for there to be greater flexibility at a time when New Zealand's borders remain closed to those visitors from countries, like Ukraine, that do not automatically get visas on arrival here.

"It's pretty heartbreaking and terrifying for family members here who can't get their family over from the Ukraine," she said.

Tiffen says the requirement for the sponsor to be a New Zealand resident is a "significant hurdle" for many. She adds many of these could have been residents, but their pathway to residency through the Skilled Migrant category had been closed since 2020.

Those who were eligible through the 2021 Resident Visa are likely still waiting for their application to be processed.

"It's very difficult for the families, and I do feel it's very unfair," she said. "Especially now that you see people like working holidaymakers able to come into the country and they still can't support their own families [here]."

The daily toll of war

Leyla Tysiachna's family is from the besieged port city of Mariupol. Her grandmother was killed after a tank toppled her home and buried her in the rubble, while her uncle was killed after an explosion rocked the apartment he lived in. She believes her aunt and niece have been taken captive by the Russians.

"Ironically his wife buried him in the crater, that was made by the bomb," she said.

For 20 long days since the war began, she heard nothing from her mother - bar a few cryptic messages from unknown numbers.

"I've got messages from different numbers; 'I'm alive, I'm complete'. Really strange and scary messages."

Getting that long-awaited call came with a mixed sense of relief, but also horror at the stories she heard. Her mother describing to her how she lived for two weeks in her apartment, sleeping in her doorway, before eventually moving to a friend's basement as the war escalated.

Many of those hunkering down in the basement with her had not seen daylight for weeks, while some were too scared to move.

Tens of thousands of people have been trapped inside the city since shortly after the war began. With no easy way in or out there is dwindling access to fresh food, water and medical supplies.

Getting access to the basic necessities saw many forced to line up out in the open for water; others had to raid the empty stories for food; while some melted snow for water.

Tysiachna's mother eventually made it out. Walking for four hours on foot before she was picked up by some volunteers who took her into the city of Zaporizhzhia.

"My mum was so scared. She said; 'I want to run as far as possible because I feel they are chasing me'." She says Russian soldiers told her mother it didn't matter where she fled to as "in a few days it will be the same situation".

Her mother fled further west, first to Odessa, then Moldova, before eventually moving to stay with friends living in the southern French city of Nice.

But fresh from the trauma of war, Tysiachna says all it takes is a reminder of what she's left behind to trigger a fresh flood of tears.

"She starts to cry, and not just like a few drops, you know... She's scared about any loud sounds and all the time she wants to fall down and cover her head with her hands."

She is desperate to bring her mother here, but for now she appears all out of options. The clinical researcher and former paediatrician, who was on the frontline of our Covid-19 response administering vaccines, is here on a work visa.

But because she's not a resident, she is unable to apply to bring her mother here. Her partner, who is a resident, has had his application refused because Tysiachna's mother is not his direct relative.

"I want my mum here. I want to hug her. I want to give her some stability," she said. "I am the only one person who can care about her and take care of her... She doesn't have anyone left."