Giving an update on my wife and her family's situation. They are close to Kharkov in the NE part of the country.
- They went to bed last night with gunfire in the distance. Could hear yelling and some troop movement through their village. Nothing in their own village thankfully, but south of them is where some of the fighting took place.
- Was texting my wife through all hours of the night. I'm tired AF, but want to be there for each message she sends me. 4 of them are in a single room probably the size of your standard living room. They sleep in their jackets and clothing, bags beside them. Ready to leave at a moments notice. Poor Babushka is having a hard time. She's older, very immobile and has heart issues. They are keeping her in their room to keep an eye on her.
- Only one single food store is open for their entire town currently. 2-3 hours wait in line to get supplies, and by then time they got their turn at 8am there was no bread left. Bought what they could. Told her to use our creditcard if possible any time making a purchase, to save cash. Really, that's all I can do to help her.
- They are essentially trapped in their village for now. Some people this morning actually tried to leave for work but were stopped by roadblocks leading towards Kharkov. There are 2 main roads. One has the bridge destroyed. The other is blocked by Russian troops telling them to return home. It's sad that people choose to go to work when this is happening. But this is a very poor village. These people have nothing compared to us. I have been there before and I was probably the "richest" person who has ever stepped foot there in recent memory. My wife and her family are lucky to be one of the luckier ones in terms of income and having a car. So for these people to make the decision to leave their homes and attempt to earn some kind of income with the threat of soldiers blocking the way....####.
- It is a 12 hour walk to Kharkov, through forested areas. Usually there is a train that connects these locations, but obviously that has been stopped for the time being. That village is dependent on that train, or being one of the lucky few to have a car.
- Some soldiers come to the village to speak to the locals occasionally. Most are young and from various parts of Russia. She has so far recognized Armenian, Siberian and Tajikistan accents. They tell them that they aren't there to fight locals. Interestingly enough, some have said they were lied to about the purpose of their deployment. They were told it was for training purposes. They found out about being part of an invasion hours before. Wife gets the feeling that they don't want to be there, they were lied to (like the rest of us). Still, she knows to keep her head on a swivel and trust nobody.
- I don't want to give away any locations anymore, but one of the Russian cities just over their border is one of the soldier's reloading points for food, supplies, etc. She said the Russian soldiers just go back and forth when they are hungry or tired. Meanwhile, her village is being starved. She said one food supply is allowed through each day (if I understand that correctly) and as soon as it showed up today, people rushed the truck. Hence, no bread. She's so stressed she hasn't been able to keep food down for 2 days
. Told her to fill all the empty bottles and containers they have with water, just in case. I think they have a water well, but better to have extra water supplies.
- Her best friend has a Russian cousin in that border city and works at one of the stores the soldiers often buy from. He said their main purchases are vodka, smokes, and bags (?).
Honestly don't know how this ends for them. Ideally getting to the Western border countries is the way out. But they are literally trapped. And even if they could leave, who knows what they would encounter on the 20 hour drive to the Western border. She said they can't even think about another country right now, as they are in survival mode
She said no one is fighting in their village. The few troops that were supposed to be stationed there have run away. Can't blame them. I'm hoping and praying the soldiers view their village as 'neutral' , not a threat and just leave them all alone. There is nothing there for them anyways. But yeah, the nightmare continues. I'm not a crier, but not ashamed to say last night was a rough one. I truly appreciate those who reached out to me on PM to offer support and the tiny distractions as small as they were. Even cracked a smile at one point.