The fear was palpable when Sergey Melnitchenko discovered that the city of Mykolaiv had come under attack from Russian forces.
A photographer by trade, he began texting friends and family members in a desperate bid to establish the source of the attack.
He learnt, to his horror, that this was the beginning of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sergey, 36, had been preparing for this day ever since rumours of an invasion surfaced in February 2021, following Russia’s “special military operation” to support the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
But nothing could prepare him for the traumas that would soon unfold.
“I was in Kyiv at the time and I had a call from my girlfriend telling me that Mykolaiv was being bombed. I just panicked, but then I saw that the whole of Ukraine was being attacked”, he told TLE.
“I packed my things and travelled back to Mykolaiv feeling scared. I knew something was going to happen, but I couldn’t believe that a full-scale invasion was happening – it was like I was dreaming.
“Everyone just began to do the best they could for themselves and their families. It was chaotic and people panicked at the beginning which has had a significant impact on everyone’s mental health.”
With just a few bags of clothes and carrying his young son, Sergey frantically searched for a car in an attempt to join the thousands of Ukrainians desperately fleeing Kyiv by road.
After more than 36 hours of continuous driving, the 31-year-old eventually reached his family in Mykolaiv where he soon embarked on a last ditch attempt to reach the Ukraine-Slovakia border
However, while Sergey’s son, Demian, and his elderly mother were able to make it across the border safely, the photographer was stopped from joining them.
Without official documents that could prove he was accompanying his son as a single parent, he was forced to bid an emotional goodbye to family members he feared he would never see again.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 8,791 civilians have been killed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with more than 14,00 people reported to have been injured.
Meanwhile, close to 8.2 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered across Europe, accounting for around 20% of the country’s population, with 1.6 million people reported to have fled to Poland alone as of April this year.
Poland, which shares a 310-mile border with Ukraine has taken the majority of those who have fled their homes, with more than 10 million border crossings from Ukraine recorded since the Russian invasion.
Thankfully, Sergey was reunited with his young son and mother two months later in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city to the west of Ukraine, where the trio now find themselves living with the photographer’s girlfriend.
However, while life for Sergey has gradually stabilised since the bombing of his hometown in Mykolaiv, Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine has inflicted huge personal loss on a family already struggling to grapple with the conflict.
Russia has intensified its bombardment of the country, with the blowing up a major dam in Kakhova the latest in a series of attacks that have destabilised the lives of millions.
“I lost my friend Xenia last year in a missile strike, she was just 33. The strike hit her house where she was living with her mother in my hometown,” he said.
“They never woke up that day and many more people were killed because of that attack – it’s one of many incidents that have killed innocent civilians.
“It’s been very difficult mentally – people are dying, children are dying. It’s very hard to imagine and very hard to read. I’ve cried many times already about everything that’s happening right now, but it’s a new reality.”
Yet, despite the trauma, the photographer refuses to give up hope and, through a number of specially commissioned photography exhibitions documenting life after the invasion, he continues to contribute to Ukraine’s military efforts.
He said: “Since last year I’ve donated more than one million Ukrainian hryvnia to the military and to volunteers by selling my photos and taking part in charity auctions.
“Whether it be through crowdfunding campaigns or creating NFTs, I’m doing the best I can to help end this invasion as soon as possible.”
For Yullia Bykova, who managed to flee to the UK with her young daughter and now lives with her sister in Scotland, the future is uncertain.
Living with her partner and daughter in Mykolaiv when Russian forces began shelling the nearby airport, the former accountant was forced to flee her home to the sound of nearby explosions.
“The first explosion sounded early in the morning and was followed by a large number of Ukrainian aircraft. Panic fought with common sense and I prayed it was military training,” she told TLE.
“After some time a second explosion rang out. My husband ran outside and I started to look for information on the Internet, but eventually my friend in the military contacted me to tell me that the war had started.
“As we found out later, Russia attacked our city’s airport. We only lived 20 minutes away, so it was very scary. I tried to keep calm for Myroslava, but it was very difficult – everyone was confused and scared.”
With the city’s airport destroyed by Russian airstrikes, Yullia and her daughter Miraslava travelled more than 800km to Lviv to cross the border into Prague before entering the Czech Republic.
After safely escaping across the border, the pair then moved to Poland for a month desperately awaiting approval for their visa application under the UK’s Ukraine Family Scheme.
However, without European biometric passports, Yullia and her daughter were trapped and were eventually forced to travel more than six hours away to the nearest visa application centre in Berlin.
Last year, it was revealed a number of Ukrainian families had struggled against unnecessary Home Office bureaucracy when completing visa applications, with a number of refugees waiting weeks for their claims to be approved.
A number of MPs and campaign groups criticised the government for its response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis in Calais, citing poorly manned offices, long queues and 14-page forms before visiting the British consulate in Paris.
Figures published by the Local Government Association reveal local councils have helped settle more than 163,000 Ukrainians in the UK, including 47,800 arrivals via the Ukraine Family Scheme.
Meanwhile, data published by the Home Office shows more than 309,300 visa applications were received as of 29 August, with a total of 238,800 visas issued since Russia’s invasion in February last year.
With the help of family members already living in the UK, Yulia was safely relocated to Scotland where she now works at a travel agency, but the trauma of Russia’s invasion continues to take its toll.
Owing to the explosions that rocked Mykolaiv Airport, Yullia’s husband, after ensuring her safe passage, drove for more than 11 hours to enlist in the military.
She said: “It’s still painful knowing he is in danger. He was mobilised in 2015, but everything was different: there were vacations and rotations. Now, he has almost no rest and although we keep in touch in Ukraine, there is still no hope that he will join us.
“Just imagine you had everything and now you have nothing. The war is in every one of us but the main priority is the safety of my child, and while I try to make her feel normal, I can’t replace her father.”
With her visa due to expire in 2024, Yullia explains she is desperate to return to Ukraine and salvage what little is left of her home, but she knows life will never be the same again.
“It has always been my intention to go back, but it’s been so long now and it’s still incredibly dangerous thanks to Russia. I know I’ll never be able to return to my usual life, even simple things like going to sea or walking peacefully in the forest will be fraught with risk due to land mines.
“In my city, technical water flows from the tap which can’t be consumed, the nurseries are closed and streets desolate. I don’t know anything about my future – everything and everyone has changed.
“The war must end, and only then will we be able to repair everything and return to our lives. People will have to deal with the consequences for a long time and I know if I return to Ukraine, it is unlikely to be my hometown – I will choose a safer part of the country.”
While Russia’s invasion has undoubtedly changed the lives of Ukrainians forever, for Dmytro Krukovets, a chief economist at the National Bank of Ukraine, preparing for the future is paramount.
Forced to take shelter on an almost daily basis following the invasion, the 26-year-old chose to remain in Kyiv despite the dangers posed by Putin’s aggression.
“As the news of the Russian invasion broke, I was in a state of disbelief. It was a call from my friends in Poland that woke me and I was jolted by the surreal nature of what was happening,” he told TLE.
“My mind was racing with thoughts of what to do next and how to react, despite the fact that there had been some plans prepared in the event of an emergency.
“As I made my way to work at the National Bank of Ukraine, I was aware of the importance of the institution and the potential danger it faced from shelling or other forms of attack, but we had much work to do.”
“Some of my colleagues chose to relocate to Western Ukraine, or to other countries. I’ve been able to work remotely so I thought about moving away, but I chose to stay. I love Kyiv, it’s a unique city.”
Unable to enlist into the military, Dmytro put his skills to use elsewhere and serves as a voluntary informant for the country’s Territorial Defence Forces, frequently launching cyber attacks against Russian websites.
Ukraine’s technology industry is estimated to be worth $6.8 billion and has more than tripled in size since 2016. It’s been on a war-footing ever since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, with fears that intensifying conflict could result in unprecedented cyberwarfare.
“While I am limited in terms of my ability to provide immediate aid on the battlefield, I do my part through donations and concentrate my efforts on promoting education in my country.
“As I reflect on those moments, it is clear to me that my fears were not merely hypothetical. I was confronted with the very real possibility that my life and the lives of those around me could be cut short by the violence and chaos of war.
“However, I knew that if I were to defend my home, it would not be out of romanticised notions of heroism, but out of a desperate desire to protect the things that make life worth living.”
Despite the escalating conflict, Dmytro is confident Ukraine will come out on top, but as Russia’s bombardment continues to claim lives, he knows there will be a price to pay.
“I hold a strong conviction that the future holds victory for Ukraine and the entire democratic world. I firmly believe that authoritarian regimes should never prevail and that the evil that they propagate should never be allowed to triumph
“The cost of this triumph will be steep, and it already is. While it will be a victory for all of us, some will pay a much higher price than others, including those who will sacrifice their lives.”
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