Russian Galina Grishchenko is breathing heavily and has sat on a windowsill. news meets the 88-year-old when she and her son came to an evacuation center in the Ukrainian city of Sumy just before the weekend. Ukrainian police drove them there. It is only a few hours since she, together with her son Oleg Grishchenko, fled from her home in Kursk Oblast and into Ukraine. – I’m sorry. I haven’t slept in six nights. I’m not in good shape. It’s hard to think. IN SECURITY: Son Oleg Grishchenko and Galina are being checked at the local hospital in the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Photo: Mykhailo Tsymbal / news Grishchenko says that she lives in the town of Sudzha in Kursk county, less than ten kilometers from the border with Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian forces took control of the city after several days of fierce fighting. She talks about the dramatic days after the Ukrainian ground offensive started almost two weeks ago. – I couldn’t leave my house. I have heart palpitations and sat in my basement shaking. Grishchenko and his son say that they sat in the basement for seven days while hearing the sound of bombs. FIGHTING: A building in the center of the Russian city of Sudzha after fierce fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Photo: Yan Dobronosov / Reuters – I was scared, but I had to look after my mother, says son Oleg Grishchenko. He usually lives in the USA, but went to Russia to get his mother out of his home country. In recent months, he has become more and more worried as the Russian border areas have been attacked, among other things, by Ukrainian drones. But before he got that far, the Ukrainian ground offensive was underway. Hit by drone He says that when he drove from the city of Kursk to Sudzha, the Russian soldiers had pulled out. But just before he drove into the town where he grew up, his car was hit by a drone. He shows off a swollen and blue forearm. DRONE: Oleg Grishchenko says that his arm was injured when the car he was driving was hit by a drone. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news He still managed to get to his mother’s house. – The first thing I did was to cover the windows, I found sandbags and sleeping bags, so that we could stay in the basement. Ukrainian forces knock on Oleg Grishchenko says that after three days in the basement, Ukrainian forces knocked on the door. He says he asked them for help to get out and explained that he has both Russian and American citizenship. REFUGEE: People in the Russian city of Sudzha are taking refuge in a basement after Ukrainian forces moved into the Kursk region almost two weeks ago. Photo: AP The soldiers are said to have asked them to stay in the basement and wait until they were contacted. After four days, they were told to get ready, he says. Ukrainian soldiers were to evacuate them out of Russia and into Ukraine. Evacuated to Ukraine news meets Oleg Grishchenko again the next day outside the local hospital in Sumy where he has examined his arm. The mother is hospitalized and waiting for answers to some tests. He says they are in good shape. IN GOOD SHAPE: Oleg Grishchenko hopes he will be able to return to the United States with his mother as soon as possible. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news Ukrainian authorities said this week that they are working to establish so-called humanitarian corridors inside Kursk county, writes the Reuters news agency. The goal is for people to be able to get away safely from the fighting. Deputy Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said this week that Ukraine is trying to establish a route for civilians from Kursk county into the Ukrainian city of Sumy, writes Ukrainskaja Pravda. news has contacted the Ukrainian authorities, but has so far been unsuccessful in obtaining a comment on the story that Galina and Oleg Grishchenko tell. Yevgenjia Kravchuk, who is a member of the Ukrainian National Assembly, tells the German TV channel Deutsche Welle that there are examples of people who have fled to Ukraine. – I had to do something, says Oleg. How could I continue to live a happy life in the US or anywhere else if my mother had died. I had no choice. I’m no hero. I’m just a son. Published 18.08.2024, at 19.45 Updated 18.08.2024, at 22.46
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