2023-09-17 12:10:32
Russian volunteers help Ukrainian refugees in Russia
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian Galina Artyomenko began collecting money to help displaced Ukrainians inside Russia, until her bank cards and those of two other volunteers were suddenly blocked in mid-July. “The bank says that our fundraising objectives were ‘suspicious’,” Artyomenko says, stressing that she is able to justify “every ruble spent.” She is careful not to express any political position.
The ban reflects doubts regarding its humanitarian activities in a country where critics of the invasion of Ukraine are increasingly repressive. With the help of other volunteers in St. Petersburg (northwest), Artyomenko launches appeals for donations online, then uses the money she raises to buy clothes, medicine and food products for Ukrainian refugees in Russia.
It regularly receives Ukrainians arriving at the train station in St. Petersburg, and helps them find housing and a job, or carry out the administrative procedures necessary to move from Russia to the European Union. Artyomenko adds: “There are many good people, thousands of people who help (Ukrainians), but they prefer not to talk regarding it for security reasons, even though there is no law prohibiting helping people in distress.”
In a context of worsening repression, many volunteers refuse to express their opinion on the conflict and the assistance they provide to refugees, for fear of attracting the attention of the authorities, who regularly arrest unknown people accused of collaborating with Kiev, or of distorting the reputation of the Russian army.
For her part, Lyudmila (43 years old), who prefers not to reveal her surname, says that many Russians are “peaceful” and cannot express their positions publicly. Rather, they relieve the burden on their conscience by helping the victims. She adds: “We cannot remain idle. We must help those who live in a worse situation than we live in, and those who are suffering. “We can do it without risk.” Volunteer Galina Artyomenko considers this “the only way of existence left to us.”
Organized help
According to a United Nations census dating back to the end of December 2022, Russia hosts regarding 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees, while Moscow estimates the number of refugees it has at more than 5 million, a number that non-governmental organizations dispute. Some of these pass only in Russia; Especially in the St. Petersburg region bordering the European Union, while others confirm their desire to remain in Russian territory.
For its part, Kiev accuses the Kremlin of transporting Ukrainians to Russia and of pushing them to obtain Russian passports.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, on charges of illegally deporting Ukrainian children.
Moscow denies these accusations, stressing that refugees come voluntarily or during targeted evacuations to transport them to safe places.
On the ground in Russia, solidarity networks helping refugees, like the one in which Galina Artyomenko works, have been active since the conflict began.
Agence France-Presse says in a report that she met volunteer Artyomenko following she had just purchased household products that she was delivering to a collection point for essentials for Ukrainian refugees.
On wooden shelves, shoes, clothes, food products, and household appliances were placed in the center called “Gomsklad,” which is open daily and receives up to dozens of families benefiting from aid daily.
After that, Artyomenko ran to a store in the city center to buy glasses for a Ukrainian couple, Elena and Igor, who came from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Moscow says it has captured since the spring, even though fighting there has continued for more than a year.
Other centers are also working to help Ukrainian refugees, such as the NGO Mayak.fund in Moscow, which has more resources than the Gomsklad center.
The organization currently receives up to 50 people every day, following recording record numbers of arrivals in 2022, according to Ukrainian volunteer Yulia Makeyeva (49 years old).
“Stories of suffering”
Makeeva believes that the emotional factor is the most difficult thing to deal with in the face of the suffering of refugees. “To maintain energy and hope, I try to keep my distance (from stories of suffering), otherwise I won’t be able to work, and I will just cry,” she says. She began to cry with her husband, Alexander, as soon as they talked regarding their survival from the bombing in the Ukrainian city of Kobyansk, from which they fled a year ago, with their two children, aged 3 and 7 years.
Ukrainian forces regained control of this region in eastern Ukraine in September 2022, following Russian forces occupied it for 6 months. But Russia began a new attack in this region. “I just want peace,” Yulia adds.
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