“The bus overturned and veered off the road”
When the bus she was trying to escape on came under fire and overturned at the edge of a cliff, Valeria Tkachenko was certain it was the end. She was forced to return to the occupied area, but this marked the beginning of a longer journey — one that would eventually lead her to a place where she could begin again.
“I was living in Starobilsk, in the Luhansk region, when the invasion began. The city was quickly occupied, and my memories of that time are only fragments. Perhaps it is the mind’s way of protecting itself, because everything was unbearable. At times, an orange cloud could be seen rolling over the city after a tank had been destroyed. No one knew what it contained. It burned the throat and made it difficult to breathe, but there was no choice — we simply had to continue living in the midst of it. Gradually, the mind began to shut down, as though to stop oneself from losing sanity.
After some time, I began helping people arriving from the front line. IM’s partner organisation, STAN, stood beside me then — helping me to locate and transport medicines to those who had nothing at all. Their support enabled me to continue helping others, even as I too was living through a humanitarian crisis.
On 13 April 2022, my younger sister and I attempted to flee. The bus we were on came under fire. It rolled over and left the road, close to the edge of a cliff. I sustained a back injury and my sister was wounded. We were forced to return to the occupied area, where we remained for another month. We then planned a more difficult, but safer, route. We travelled through Russia and, eventually, via Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, back into Ukraine.
When we finally managed to leave, I felt no relief — only a profound emptiness. I had lost my roots, my home. I underwent rehabilitation in Kyiv, but found it difficult to truly relax. It was then that one of STAN’s founders wrote to me, saying: ‘Come here. There is much work to be done, and you will find your place.’ I had nothing left, so I came to Ivano-Frankivsk with only a backpack.
There, I began as a volunteer, assisting with paperwork and documentation, before becoming part of their humanitarian projects. It was the first time I felt I could truly begin to build something new. STAN gave me safety and purpose. They taught me not to underestimate my experiences and helped me to believe, once again, that I had a future.
Without their support, I would never have been able to rise again after all I had endured. To me, STAN represents community, strength and hope — it is where I have found my new home.”
– Valeria Tkachenko
Photo: STAN
By: Malin Kihlström