Tears and joy as Ukrainian couple divided by occupation meet again
KYIV, Nov 9 - Larysa Ryndova hurried to see her husband as if they were going out on a first date — makeup on and perfume spritzed in the car.
asserted
they → divide → car
It was the first time she had laid eyes on 68-year-old Serhiy in 4-1/2 years — time he had spent trapped with others in the Russian-held town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine.
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he → lay → Ukraine
"I can't believe you are here," Larysa, 72, kept repeating, her mascara smudged with tears after they embraced outside a hospital in Kyiv.
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they → believe → Kyiv
"Honestly, I can't believe it myself," Serhiy replied.
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Serhiy → believe → it
They last saw each other in 2022 when Larysa fled to England to live with their son, three months into the occupation following Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine.
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Larysa → see → Ukraine
Serhiy stayed to look after the family home, ending up stuck in the town peppered with Russian-laid landmines and facing a mounting humanitarian crisis.
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Serhiy → stay → crisis
"We hoped for better.
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We → hop → better
Turned out, it got 'better'," he said sarcastically.
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he → turn → ?
Oleshky's residents described living through constant drone attacks and without power and heating.
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residents → describe → power
Things got even worse this spring, when food deliveries stopped.
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deliveries → get → ?
Serhiy got out on October 30 with hundreds of other residents, evacuated during a ceasefire that US first lady Melania Trump was involved in brokering, with the additional involvement of Pope Leo.
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Trump → get → Leo
For all the joy of seeing Larysa — and the prospect of being reunited with his three children and six grandchildren — he had found his escape from Oleshky a devastating wrench.
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escape → see → Oleshky
"Your heart is torn apart at the thought of leaving everything behind.
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heart → tear → everything
Your home, your family, the cemetery — all your relatives are there," he said.
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he → say → ?
"How will you ever visit their graves, keep them cared for?"
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them → visit → graves
'IT'S HARD TO RECOGNISE HIM'
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IT → recognise → HIM
As Oleshky's evacuees were moved by buses and planes through occupied land, Russia and Belarus, Larysa set out on her own 2,000-km (1,200-mile) journey to meet Serhiy and bring him back with her to Britain.
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Larysa → move → Britain
"How haggard he looks," she said when she saw the first pictures of her husband crossing into Ukraine.
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she → look → Ukraine
"It's hard to recognise him."
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It → recognise → him
Serhiy called Oleshky a "zone of death" where life under occupation could depend on the mood of an individual Russian soldier.
uncertain
life → call → soldier
He survived on humanitarian aid that he had stockpiled during the occupation — noodles, grains, sometimes canned meat and fish.
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he → survive → occupation
He tried frying up flatbreads with flour stored before the war, riddled with weevils.
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He → try → weevils
"Sometime around April (this year), the people who used to bring us food died — two men.
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who → use → food
After that, all food deliveries stopped completely.
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deliveries → stop → that
There was nothing," Serhiy said over a cup of coffee in a Kyiv cafe.
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Serhiy → be → cafe
Locals shared what they had.
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they → share → what
Some risked the dangerous 20-km journey on foot or bicycle to Radensk for supplies.
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Some → risk → supplies
Rare provisions were sold at severely inflated prices.
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provisions → sell → prices
The local hospital ran out of supplies.
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hospital → run → supplies
Bodies were stacked up in the morgue, as forensic experts refused to risk the journey to the town to perform autopsies.
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experts → stack → autopsies
"Bodies are just lying there.
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Bodies → lie → ?
Everything is leaking.
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Everything → leak → ?
When my neighbour died, I carried his body in there, and the smell was absolutely horrific," Serhiy said.
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Serhiy → die → body
"God forbid!"
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God → forbid → ?
Another neighbour asked him to bury her in her own courtyard if she ever got killed.
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she → ask → courtyard
Serhiy said he probably would not have left the town himself had it not been for the evacuation.
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it → say → evacuation
Landmines were laid out on all the roads and even in the town.
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Landmines → lay → town
"They (Russian troops) had their own objective, as I understand it: to mine everything so they could keep everything under control," he added.
uncertain
he → have → control
"A lot of people were killed in Oleshky.
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lot → kill → Oleshky
Someone would go out to pick a cherry plum and get blown up.
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Someone → go → plum
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
