Radio Free Europe – Radio Liberty (RFERL)
By Svetlana Osipova
June 1, 2023 07:44 GMT
At the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Yulia was living in the southern city of Kherson with her second husband and three children, two from her first marriage.
Just before the outbreak of hostilities, Yulia, a Ukrainian woman who asked to use a pseudonym, sent her eldest, 8-year-old Marina, to see the girl’s father in a nearby district.
But when Russian forces invaded, swiftly occupying much of the Kherson region, Yulia quickly left town with her two other children, seeking safety in Ukraine’s west. She said she lost contact with Marina and her estranged ex-husband.