Families reunited following Russian retreat in Ukraine
TSENTRALNE, UKRAINE >> Relatives embraced in the middle of the road. They squeezed hands and choked back tears. Others sobbed outside their homes. All had yearned for this same moment — to be reunited with their loved ones after Russian troops withdrew from their villages in southern Ukraine.
Families were torn apart when Russia invaded in February, as some fled and others hunkered down. Now many are seeing one another for the first time in months, after Moscow’s latest retreat amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has retaken a pocket of territory wedged between the regional capitals of Kherson and Mykolaiv and the Black Sea.
The most significant withdrawal was from the city of Kherson itself, but troops also pulled back from nearby villages in recent days. The Associated Press visited four such villages this week and watched as people were reunited with relatives.
“This is just an explosion,” said Andriy Mazuryk. The 53-year-old left his mother in her village of Tsentralne in April and fled some 30 kilometers (18 miles) away.
His mother didn’t want to leave, but Mazuryk has a son in Ukraine’s army and worried the Russians would kill him. Even though the occupying troops seized people’s phones, Mazuryk managed to speak to his mother and other relatives almost daily because they made calls in secret, he said.
“Thank God, we were in touch every day ... relatives took risks,” he said.
More than half a million people have fled the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions since February, according to local authorities, although exact numbers are hard to calculate. It’s unclear how many have returned.
While some people, like Mazuryk, had only a short distance to cover to return home, others traveled from across the country when they learned the Russians had left. Igor, a soldier, was given time off from fighting in the hard-hit Donbas region so he could see his family.
Jumping out of a van in the village of Vavylove, Igor welled up as he hugged his mother, who was waiting for him in the middle of the road. “I knew that it would happen, that we will win and our whole land will be liberated,” said Igor, who spoke on condition only his first name was used as is typical for Ukrainian soldiers because of security concerns.
Some villagers said they were surprised at how quickly the Russians left. After Russia announced a partial mobilization of some 300,000 reservists in September, locals said thousands more soldiers poured into the area and heavily mined it.