People from Russian-annexed regions returning to Kyiv-controlled territories

By Anadolu Staff

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AA) – People in the Russian-annexed regions are returning to the territories under the control of the Ukrainian army and settling in safe areas.

A humanitarian corridor was created last year due to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia since Feb. 24, 2022.

The corpses of soldiers are exchanged, and civilians are allowed to pass through the corridor created between the village of Kolotilovka in the Belgorod region of Russia and the village of Pokrovka in the Sumy region of Ukraine.

Citizens, who are coming to the Ukrainian-controlled territories from the regions annexed by Russia, are supervised by the Ukrainian Security Service in the Sumy region.

After necessary procedures, civilians are transported to the capital Kyiv, and Kharkiv by volunteer teams to settle them in safe cities and villages in Ukraine.

Vitaly Dmitryuk, the head of the charity fund “The Way of Ukraine,” told Anadolu that citizens from the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, including Crimea annexed by Russia, returned to Kyiv-controlled territories via the humanitarian corridor in the Sumy region.

Civilians were first sent to Russia, he said, adding that they must decide where to go within two weeks after reaching Russia.

“Citizens are told that they would be sent either to Ukraine or to Russia's remote regions such as Tula and Dagestan as part of the distribution program. This is why people are shocked and confused about what to do," he said.

Working with other charities, he said, they evacuated citizens from Sumy to the capital Kyiv, and Kharkiv. The routes were determined by the Ukrainian administration, he added.

- ‘About 150 people pass through humanitarian corridor daily’

“We welcome the arrivals and bring them to Kharkiv. After the necessary payments are made, we drop people off at stations according to their destination. Between 100 and 150 people pass through the humanitarian corridor daily. We take care of 30 to 40 of them. We assist nearly 600 people a month,” Dmitryuk added.

Elena Guliyenko, a Gagauz Turk from Ukraine, said that she came to Kharkiv from the city of Alchevsk in the Luhansk region, annexed by Russia.

Guliyenko, who was born in Comrat, the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia of Moldova, said she moved to Alchevsk in 1988 after marriage.

“I lived under occupation for nine years. I went through a very difficult period. My family lost everything, my children were left on the street. They left Alchevsk. I didn't want them to stay there. I had to leave too,” she said.

Stressing that she was pressured to obtain a Russian passport, she said she did not accept either the so-called Luhansk People's Republic or the Russian passport.

“The system is set up in such a way that you have to have a Russian passport even to pay for internet service. I did not want to get a Russian passport because Russia deprived us of everything,” she added.

Urging people to give support to Ukraine, she said: “If Ukraine collapses, the wars will not end.”

She added that she could not even go to the funeral of her parents who died in Moldova due to the situation in the Luhansk region.