One Ukrainian family got different reactions in Russia. One man looked right through them. Another stuffed money into their pockets. From 1843 magazine
. Kostya Balabas was hit by shrapnel from a Russian shell near his home in Mariupolhen Vova got to hospital in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Russian soldier saw the small Ukrainian-flag patch on the shoulder of his Azovstal uniform and exploded in fury, hectoring him about how he had been fighting Ukrainians for eight years. Vova said it was a work jacket and ripped off the patch. “If I see another Ukrainian symbol on you I will make you swallow it,” the soldier replied.
Doctors removed the shrapnel from Vova’s knee, but he still couldn’t walk. He worried about permanent nerve damage and contacted the German Red Cross about getting to Germany for more treatment. Many people who fled east from Mariupol were waiting in the Donetsk People’s Republic until the fighting stopped, hoping to return home. Natalya and Roma were content to stay at their cousin’s house in Bezimenne. “For my parents, there was a house. They could live in it.
The family got varying reactions in Russia. One man, whose flashy car had a letter Z on the side, looked right through them. Another stuffed money into Kostya’s pocket. Natalya called dozens of mechanics before finding someone who took pity on them and patched up the two cars without charge. Like his parents, Kostya had been neither pro-Russian nor pro-Ukrainian before the war. He maintained that view after the invasion. “In war, your mind narrows. We were fighting for survival. We didn’t care if we were under the Russian flag or Ukrainian flag…I saw that the Russians helped us evacuate. I thought the Russians were good.” Distance has changed that perspective. “Since I’ve been able to get away from that stressful period, my mind has opened up again and I can see the bigger picture.
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