Olha, her husband, and their four children lived in southern Ukraine and were practicing Christians. When the occupation began, their religious community came under immense pressure: church gatherings could only be held when there were no troops stationed in the village. If armored vehicles were out on the streets, everyone stayed quietly inside their homes. At the same time, Russian authorities demanded that all churches re-register their congregations under Russian law, threatening to confiscate their buildings if they refused.

A particularly painful loss for Olha was the murder of local clergymen. They were found with their hands tied behind their backs, shot in the back of the head. Olha is convinced that their preaching was the reason they were killed: the priest was a true Christian who spoke about justice and Jesus Christ at every opportunity. Among the forces occupying the village at the time were Kadyrovites, who are predominantly Muslim.

“He spoke about Jesus at every given opportunity, and they might have been of a different faith, and they just didn’t like it,” Olha believes.

The pressure also extended to Olha’s son, Ivan, at school. The students were forced to participate in a Russian military-patriotic game called “Zarnitsa.” Olha refused to let him join, as it directly contradicted their religious beliefs. The very next day, the homeroom teacher called a parent-teacher meeting and publicly shamed Olha in front of everyone, blaming her for Ivan’s team losing.

One day, Olha was summoned for interrogation. The investigator immediately launched into accusations, claiming she was publicly expressing dissatisfaction with the occupying authorities and waiting for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to arrive. Olha simply replied that she was a deeply religious person, and that the Bible says one must respect the king. The investigator didn’t bother to clarify exactly which “king” she meant—and blindly accepted it as a declaration of loyalty to Putin. Olha intentionally kept it ambiguous.

The final straw came when Ivan brought home a military ID and announced that he had been registered for the draft—despite having documented heart problems. Olha realized they couldn’t wait a single day longer. She reached out to Save Ukraine for help, and the family successfully escaped to Ukrainian-controlled territory.