THERE have been many tales of brutality by Russian forces since the invasion of Ukraine – but Viktoriia Kovalenko’s story is one of the cruellest.
The 34-year-old mum saw her husband and 12-year-old daughter murdered, then she and her baby were imprisoned in a dark cellar, where she had to sleep standing up, while other captives died around her.
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But she is a survivor — and she and one-year-old daughter Varvara are now making a new life in Britain, where they have been given refuge.
In an exclusive interview, Viktoriia told The Sun: “When I finally arrived in Britain I felt such comfort. I felt safe at last.
“Half of my heart died with my family and half lives for Varvara, so I will celebrate and make her happy.”
In the new year Viktoriia plans to make a complaint of war crimes against Vladimir Putin’s forces for the trauma that ripped apart her family.
Ukrainian and United Nations investigators have concluded that Russia has committed war crimes, and they have made the investigation of human rights violations a priority.
Viktoriia is one of many victims. Her ordeal began when the family — she and husband Peter, their 12-year-old daughter Veronika and little Varvara, who turns two next month — tried to flee the Russian invasion.
On March 5, near the village of Yahidne, their car was forced to a stop by large rocks blocking the road. But as Peter got out to move them, Russian soldiers opened fire.
Viktoriia said: “I didn’t see them. It came from nowhere. I think it was a sniper. We were in the line of fire.”
Their car windows shattered and she was showered by shards, leaving her hair covered in blood.
Viktoriia said: “I had Varvara in my arms and Veronika was sitting next to me. Veronika opened the door and started to get out, and I followed.
“I didn’t see what happened, but as I got out of the car I realised my daughter was on the road and she had no head.”
Still under fire, Viktoriia clambered into a roadside ditch, using her body to shield her baby.
She continued: “I saw my husband in the car and he wasn’t moving and I realised he had died.
“I couldn’t see the blood as the airbag had gone off and I could only see his leg. The car was on fire.”
Viktoriia lay there for several minutes as shots rang out around them, then ran for shelter in an abandoned car riddled with bullet holes.
She then found the courage to run a further 100 metres, while shielding her baby, with bullets still firing around her, to a deserted government building that had previously been used by Ukrainian troops.
There was no running water, heat or electricity, but they did find discarded tins of meat and partly-drunk bottles of water left by troops.
Viktoriia said: “At night the shelling was going on around me and the building shook and windows smashed.
“It was cold, we were alone. I didn’t have nappies or clothes as they were burned in the car. I had long hair and I cut it off as it was so matted with blood.”
At 6pm the next day Russian troops searched the building. They heard Varvara’s cries as they hid, leading to their capture.
My heart is broken. People say that time is a healer, but that is not true. I want justice for them.
Viktoriia Kovalenko
One Russian soldier told Viktoriia: “We’ll save you and your baby.”
But instead of being set free, they were taken to the basement of a nearby school, where Viktoriia and her baby were held hostage in inhumane conditions with around 300 other Ukrainians.
Over the days that followed she witnessed ten people dying around her, and coal was used to write their names on a wall, to be copied on to grave stones later.
Most of those held captive were elderly women and children.
She said: “When people died at night they lay there until morning. They were put into one grave.
“I was kept there for 25 days. There was no light, no clean air. People had to sleep standing.
“The soldiers smashed our phones. They shut the door on us like animals.”
Amid the horrific conditions, Viktoriia faced the trauma of the deaths of her husband and daughter.
She said: “I couldn’t cry. I was numb. I was ready to die too. Varvara was my saviour. She is my reason to live.”
Viktoriia asked Russian soldiers to recover her husband and daughter’s bodies so they could be buried. They agreed on March 12.
She said: “A different group of Russian soldiers helped me from the ones that held us. I went to a forest with three of them.
“They took the bodies of my relatives into a forest. There were two crosses. When we were in the forest firing started. They ran, as there was shooting.
I saw my husband in the car and he wasn’t moving and I realised he had died.
Viktoriia Kovalenko
“One of the Russian soldiers put me to the ground and he protected me.
“In Yahidne there were around 2,000 soldiers and some soldiers killed people, some soldiers helped.”
Around three weeks later, the Russians began their retreat from the north of Ukraine and Viktoriia was able to flee.
Her husband’s parents, who lived in a village three miles away, found her and she then travelled on to Lviv, where she was introduced to British entrepreneur Derek Edwards, co-founder of UK charity Nadiya.
The charity has helped nearly 200 refugees into the UK with approved visas, and promised to do the same for Viktoriia and her surviving family members.
But first, she had to get new passports for herself and Varvara, due to problems with her visa application. And that meant she had to return to the flat where the family had once happily lived.
She said: “I walked around the apartment and my mind refused to believe that this is now my reality.
“It was still standing. I thought, ‘Why has my daughter died and my flat is OK?’
“I felt like a child who wants a miracle to happen, to turn back time, for someone almighty to return my loved ones to me.
“Sometimes it feels like you can go crazy thinking about it.”
Further paperwork problems meant she was trapped in limbo from May 2 until last week, when Derek personally drove to the Polish-Ukrainian border to fetch them.
He was part of an eight-vehicle convoy taking aid to Ukraine and he picked her up on the return leg, along with her brother Yuri, 35, his wife Tamara, 28, and their children Sasha, eight, and Olga, three.
They took the bodies of my relatives into a forest. There were two crosses. When we were in the forest firing started. They ran, as there was shooting.
Viktoriia Kovalenko
When they met, Derek hugged her and told her: “You are safe now. I never break a promise.”
Viktoriia said: “I couldn’t believe there were selfless people like Derek. I had such emotion at what people have done for us in Britain and also for other Ukrainian people.”
In the coming weeks she plans to make a police complaint of a war crime for what she has gone through.
She said: “My heart is broken. People say that time is a healer, but that is not true. I want justice for them.
“Sometimes I think about whether Putin will use nuclear weapons and a third world war will start.
“I also think that this is impossible. When I am here it seems unrealistic, but we thought the same way until February 24 that this could not happen in Ukraine, but the war began.”
Viktoriia arrived in Britain on Saturday, and is now living in Kent in a home provided by the Diocese of Canterbury.
Derek said: “I found out about Viktoriia’s harrowing ordeal and I was determined to help her. After weeks of phone contact I met her for the first time on April 24 and I was struck by what an amazingly resilient woman she is. She has suffered unimaginable horror.
“To pick her and her family up on the Polish border and bring them to their new life has been overwhelming. I sobbed when they opened the door to their new home.
“It means the world to me that they are finally safe. But there’s thousands of other Ukrainians who aren’t.”
It is now more than six months since the Homes For Ukraine scheme launched, meaning that many refugees have come to an end of their sponsorship period.
New figures released this week show that more than 2,000 Ukrainian families with children in Britain, as well as 900 individuals, have registered with local councils as having nowhere to live.
We also have 200 people still waiting in Ukraine for sponsorship with people in the UK. We desperately need sponsors for them.
Derek Edwards
With no credit history and without guarantors, many find it hard to find property in the private sector, even if they have a job.
Nadiya is trialling a 100-home project around Milton Keynes to offer assistance as guarantors, help with deposit payments, and three months rent paid up front.
Derek added: “But we also have 200 people still waiting in Ukraine for sponsorship with people in the UK. We desperately need sponsors for them.
“People have asked me: “Why do you do it?” I simply couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
Viktoriia’s family sponsor, Rev Julian Staniforth, of the Diocese of Canterbury, said: “They’ve been through things we simply can’t imagine, but we hope that in some small way we can make life feel a little bit safer and a little bit happier for them.”
- To donate to Project Nadiya, which is fundraising for Viktoriia’s family and other refugees, or to inquire about becoming a sponsor, see homesforukraine.org.
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Adam Sonin
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