Evacuees from Sudzha district told about life under occupation

In one of the rear villages of the Kursk region, a sports hall was equipped as a temporary accommodation facility for evacuees from the Sudzhansky district. A special correspondent of Izvestia visited it and talked to the residents of Sudzhany.

Free space: what does Sudzha look like when cleared of APU?

The enemy is no longer in the city, but the sky above it is very restless, the Izvestia correspondent was convinced

"The first weeks of the occupation were the most difficult, when we had to adapt to new conditions and improve our daily lives. And the last days, when there was shelling and fighting. Fortunately, everything happened quickly. On the eve of March 12, we saw a group of seven Ukrainian soldiers retreating on our street, then three more. They were sullen and in a hurry. And soon our five stormtroopers came in. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, all of us, except Dad, evacuated. He decided to leave on his own in his car and bring his things," said 24-year-old Bogdan Belobrov.

According to members of the Belobrov family, the militants tried to take this car from them more than once. They came, asked, demanded, but, fearing complaints to the commandant's office, they retreated. According to them, the most unpleasant episode occurred when another group came with machine guns and threatened to shoot. Having not received the keys to the car, they promised to return. But they were never seen again.

"On our outskirts, in the area of the railway station, it was even more or less quiet. And the commandant's office itself was nearby. And the further to the border, the harder it got—that's where the mercenaries were based. In Goncharovka, they say, there was no life for the civilian population at all," Bogdan's mother Svetlana shared.

Bogdan's father Viktor Belobrov evacuated two days later. I packed my things, took the cat with me and left by car, waiting for the "window" between the attacks of the Ukrainian FPV drones. I drove without a windshield, at top speed, to the Largest Soldier's (25 km), fearing attacks from the sky. I got there without incident, and the Belobrov family has now been reunited.

"My son has matured in these six months. He used to be quiet and modest, but now he's completely different, responsible for everyone! She and her father were our hope and support," Svetlana commented.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article on Thursday, March 20, at 10:00 a.m.:

"The first and last days were the most difficult"