Two years after fleeing Ukraine, a WA family waits for their son

Leaving their homeland

In an interview in their store in Orting, Valeria and Roman recalled seeing Russian military tanks rolling through their farm town and settling inside their neighbors’ homes and farms. The soldiers came with their own resources, but once that supply ran out, they began to take from civilians, forcing them to leave their homes.

The Ukrainian military was unable to come help the town due to the Russian occupation.

“For the first 10 days, there were no executions, only arrests, since they occupied people’s homes,” Roman said. “But after then, they started to execute people. Especially those that had family in the police or power in the city.”

On March 12, 2022, their neighbors alerted the Biletskiys that Russian soldiers were looking for a big family with a big white van who were related to members of the police and military. This describes the Biletskiy family, the only big family in town with a large white van.

They decided to flee that day in a funeral hearse since that was the only vehicle they owned that fit everyone in their family. Along with the son who decided to stay and fight, Valeria’s mother and sister stayed because they didn’t think the occupation would last as long as it has.

On their way out of town they saw active combat between soldiers and civilians and destroyed tanks and vehicles, and felt explosions. Later, the elder Roman received a message from his brother to take a different route, but it was already too late.

Trekking out of Ukraine proved difficult also because Ukrainian soldiers flipped street signs and jammed networks to confuse Russians. The tactic was effective, but also confused fleeing civilians. The elder Roman said he used his knowledge of the polar stars to navigate which direction to go. His brother had settled in Washington in 2002, so they already knew where they would end their journey.

They eventually made it to Poland, then France for a day, before heading to Mexico and meeting with U.S. Border Patrol in Tijuana, awaiting entry into the U.S.  

Valeria and Roman had adopted most of their children, so they all had different last names, which proved difficult for the agents to process. They eventually made it through and stayed briefly in San Diego before finally arriving in Seattle on April 10, 2022, nearly a month after leaving their home.