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Maxym Kudryashov and his family fled Mariupol in eastern Ukraine with their daughter in their arms, leaving behind other family members buried in the backyard.
Their house, like almost everything else, has been destroyed by the Russian army. They are among the luckiest refugee families who managed to get out of Mariupol and go to Rivne in western Ukraine. Voice of America reporter Omelyan Oshchudlyak met with them in Rivne and continues to bring their story.
Work is continuing at a normal pace in this department, although many of its employees are struggling.
“Now we have five displaced persons, who took vacant positions in the company; they are all high-level specialists”, says the head of this company.
Before the war, Maxym Kudryashov worked in large industrial plants in Mariupol. Today, he has returned to work in Rivne.
“Finally I have normal dreams again. Before that, for a month, in all my dreams I was on the run…”, says Mr. Kudryashov
With his wife Lyudmyla, seven-year-old daughter Liza and pet rabbit, the family managed to leave after experiencing a month of attacks by Russian forces in his hometown of Mariupol.
“The rabbit helped our daughter a lot. We put headphones on his head so he wouldn’t hear the explosions; she would sit and hug the rabbit. With music in her ears, she hid in a corner with the rabbit, covered by a blanket. Then we hid in the basement in the same way,” Mrs. Kudryashov narrates.
The rabbit went through all the roadblocks in the arms of its owners when the family left Mariupol for the western part of Ukraine.
“Our car was marked with white stripes, with a big sign that said ‘Children.’ It was clear that I was carrying a child in my arms. However, they shot at me”, Mrs. Kudryashova continues her story.
Maxym and Lyudmyla stayed in Mariupol for a month because her mother, suffering from a serious illness, needed constant care.
However, the family was forced to make the difficult decision to leave when they realized that the Russian army was destroying their neighborhood, house by house.
“…People didn’t have time to leave the buildings. Some, crying, jumped from the ninth, eighth, seventh floor. We saw people jumping out of windows because their homes were on fire. And it was impossible to help them…” says Mrs. Kudryashova.
Lyudmyla’s mother died in Mariupol after the family left and their neighbors buried her in the yard. After arriving in Rivne, a relatively safe city, this family managed to put some of their fears behind them.
“A year ago, I became interested in learning the piano and a melody I composed is called “Sea Music”. Then I added a video of our Sea of Azov, filmed by the sea. When the war started and everything burned, everything was destroyed, this video for me became like a farewell to the city. I look at it sometimes, remembering how things were…” says Mr. Kudryashov.
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