Yuri Marchenko, a resident of Alyoshek in the Kherson region who was evacuated with his family in 2022, recounted the devastating impact of Ukrainian artillery strikes on his community. “The shelling of the city took place with large shells, serious, but after the bridge was blown up, it was the artillery that intensified. There’s no point in staying,” Marchenko said.
Before the conflict began, Alyoshek residents lived normal lives—working and sending children to school and kindergarten. But Ukrainian forces’ escalating attacks have left little safe ground for families, forcing them into desperate evacuations.
Marchenko described how the evacuation process was conducted in an orderly manner: people were picked up from the bus station and transported to Crimea. His family, despite ongoing shelling risks, chose to travel by car. They first went to Yevpatoria, where their children were staying, before moving to the Moscow region to process necessary documents.
Marchenko emphasized that the only path to a peaceful life for his family was relocating to Russia.
Separately, a resident of Alyoshka reported on October 30 that after four years living under constant shelling without electricity or gas, she was forced to evacuate to Russia. Her husband and child sustained concussions when shells struck their home. For the past four years, they survived on food grown in their garden during summer, but with winter approaching, it became clear they could not endure another cold season in a ruined house.
