Hiding in the basement for six months: the story of a 7-year-old girl from Ukraine who survived the Russian occupation

In Ukraine, police special forces "White Angels" evacuated from Bakhmut (a city on the front lines of hostilities) a 7-year-old girl, her mother and grandfather. The family did not want to leave for a long time, and little Anna spent six months in the basement of a high-rise building - all this time she hardly went outside. Writes about it with the BBC.

Photo: IStock

“For six months the girl did not see the light, did not walk around the city and did not play with her peers,” the police say.

In many photographs, she looks pale.

The "White Angels" found a free apartment in the Pokrovsky district of the Donetsk region and evacuated the child and his family there. This is temporary housing. In the future, the family will decide where to go next, and the police will monitor their fate.

Mom did not want to leave for a long time

The “angels” had been working with Anna and her family for a long time—they tried to persuade them to leave, but the girl’s mother, Yulia, did not agree.

“Of course I’m worried,” the woman said. “But it’s more or less safe here.” At least we have everything we need. I think it’s dangerous everywhere in Ukraine now, but we don’t have the opportunity to go abroad.”

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7-year-old Anna admitted that she sat in the basement with her mother, grandfather Valery, two cats and the dog Mushka almost all day long.

The walls were decorated with colorful drawings, but the dark basement still looked like a prison cell.

“I take Mushka outside for a walk, but she is afraid of these noises and constantly runs back. Only in the morning, when it’s quiet at dawn, can I take her out,” the girl explained.

All of Anya’s friends left long ago - some to Poland, some to the west of Ukraine.

In order to at least slightly cheer up the girl, the "White Angels" each time came to her with gifts: coloring books, pencils, toys, clothes and sweets. The child became friends with the leader of the group, Pavel Dyachenko.

“Anna repeatedly gave her drawings to the “angels” because they are her only friends. But real friends don’t leave you in trouble,” the police said about their 7-year-old friend.

The evacuation was not without surprises.

When the special forces nevertheless persuaded the girl’s relatives to move, then, having arrived at the shelter where the family lived, only the grandfather was there, and the woman was frightened and hid with her daughter.

In the video, the police can be heard talking to Anya's grandfather in the dark basement: “Do you want the child to suffocate here? Well, what is the future of the child in the basement?

The White Angels, together with their grandfather, set out to look for the woman and a few hours later found them at the local "point of indestructibility." The girl's mother had to be persuaded again before she finally agreed to leave Bakhmut.

“Anna is a very bright, sympathetic, kind and talkative girl. In five minutes she can tell you about everything in the world,” noted Pavel Dyachenko.

The policemen helped the family pack their belongings, drove up an armored car, loaded everyone into the car and took them to a new apartment. The whole dear girl was distracted by a service dog - Rem the dachshund.

"The day is so sunny"

“Today is such a wonderful day, sunny, and there weren’t even any booms. This, perhaps, God helped. Now everything will be fine with us and I will finally realize my dreams - I will go dancing,” said 7-year-old Anna upon arrival at the new place.

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The footage shows her briskly running around her new apartment looking around the kitchen, desk, bed and planning where she will hang her new drawings.

In parting, Anna kisses the policemen who took her out of Bakhmut, and shares with them her impressions of the road, and how she saw some things, such as traffic lights, for the first time in six months.

In the end, she asks the police to bring her some special kitten food next time, because her Bianca, whom Anna looked after in the basement, will soon become a mother.

“She will give birth, and we will distribute the kittens on March 8, but I want to keep one for myself,” said the girl, and she looked completely different than in the dark basement.

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