When Russian shelling briefly stopped in Kreminna, 12-year-old Maximilian’s parents rushed to deliver humanitarian aid to the hospital in Rubizhne. Mykola worked there as a paramedic and his wife Natalia as a nurse. At the beginning of the full-scale war, they often stayed in the shelter of the hospital to continue helping the wounded. 

The situation in the Luhansk region was getting worse every day. Eventually, the couple had to operate on the wounded in the absence of electricity, water, and basic supplies. The only good thing was that the hospital had a generator.

During this time, their son Maximilian stayed with his grandparents in Kreminna. And when his parents were at home, the whole family, along with their pets, hid in the basement around the clock from Russian attacks. One such bombardment damaged the family’s home, so Mykola and Natalia decided to flee the city for the safety of their son. Unfortunately, the family managed to get only to the occupied village where Maximilian’s grandmother lived.

There was no shelling during the occupation, but that didn’t make life any safer. Russian raids and searches, looting, and endless propaganda that persecuted people almost around the clock were much more terrible for life. And the peak of this exhausting mockery was the threats to parents at the beginning of the new school year. The new occupation authorities used all possible means to force adults to send their child to Russian schools. Otherwise, they were threatened with deprivation of parental rights. Armed Chechen guards walked the corridors of the so-called “school,” and the parents themselves were not even allowed to enter the school. Therefore, when Mykola and Natalia heard about the humanitarian corridor from the occupied territory, they immediately began to pack their belongings for the trip. 

They had to pass through the Belgorod region, where the family ended up in a filtration camp. Here Mykola was threatened with torture and physical violence because of his pro-Ukrainian position. Eventually, the occupiers released the family, citing their “good mood.”

Already in the government-controlled territory, the Voloshko family met Save Ukraine volunteers and decided to go to our Hope and Healing center in Kyiv:

“We were very well received there, they helped us with paperwork, cash benefits and everything we needed for living, they also gave us the opportunity to feel the family comfort” Mykola says about our assistance.

Very soon we offered the couple to settle in our modular house, and today it’s been 5 months since the Voloshko family has been rebuilding their lives in the Poltava region thanks to the Fort Home project. In the first days of their arrival, Mykhailo got a job with the support of the local church pastor, and recently his wife found a job as well. His son Maksymilian has already resumed school, and attends various classes including our day center.

“We are grateful to God and all the good people who helped us to feel human again… Our greatest need is victory in this terrible war, de-occupation of our land and the opportunity to return to our home under peaceful skies!”