I’ve helped thousands of Ukrainians escape Russian occupation. When they get caught, it’s usually because of their phones.

• Stefan Vorontsov is a Ukrainian volunteer who secretly coaches those that need to go away occupied Ukraine.

• He instructed BI what it is wish to evacuate and put together for scrutiny from border authorities.

• He stated the journey’s most troublesome leg is the border checkpoint, the place Ukrainians can get interrogated for six hours.

This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Stefan Vorontsov, a Ukrainian who fled Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka in early 2022. His group, Humanity, has helped over 6,000 Ukrainians go away southern and jap Ukraine.

Vorontsov is making an attempt to boost consciousness of the state of affairs on the border, and restricted his interview to info that he says wouldn’t compromise evacuees’ security. The next has been edited for size and readability.

Ukrainians who need to go away Russian occupation have just one path: Russia itself.

It is too harmful to cross the entrance line, so we should undergo both Crimea or Rostov-on-Don. Every one has a border checkpoint that offers Ukrainians entry to Russia, however they’re extremely troublesome to cross via.

The Russian border authorities are always screening folks to catch pro-Ukraine partisans or punish these with household within the Ukrainian forces. One slip-up might imply you go to jail or by no means go away.

When a Ukrainian evacuee makes contact with us, we give them a “legend.” It is the faux story we should create about why they need to enter Russia, about their households and nationwide identification, and about their previous.

For instance, sick folks can say they need to go to a Russian hospital, and households can say they need to go to the Black Sea and chill on the seashore.

It is lots more durable for younger Ukrainian males, particularly those that are flagged by Russia for making pro-Ukraine posts on-line. For these folks, we’ve to verify their legend is robust.

Normally, I exploit Telegram’s “secret chat” perform to message an evacuee rigorously. I’ve to be delicate with what I inform them as a result of I do know that Russia might be able to learn each phrase I write.

The Russians search every thing about you

There are numerous causes Ukrainians didn’t flee earlier than the Russian military arrived. Many are sick. Many have youngsters. Regardless that the battle is in your doorstep, in your streets, it is so troublesome to make the choice to completely go away your house.

Over time, I’ve discovered that 95% of an evacuation’s success is determined by preparation earlier than the particular person steps out the door.

A very powerful factor Ukrainians should do is clear up their telephones.

The Russians test every thing on the border checkpoint, and so they’re at all times in search of folks with pro-Ukrainian views.

Evacuees should put together that they could possibly be interviewed for six hours on the border checkpoint, the place the guards will meticulously vet every thing about them: their telephones, their social media posts, and their search historical past.

Something associated to Ukraine can implicate you. Ukrainian phrases, textual content messages from members of the family, photographs of the Ukrainian flag, and even the colours of blue and yellow would possibly land you in hassle. The guards can see if you happen to favored or subscribed to a pro-Ukraine social media channel.

Maps are particularly necessary to delete. The Russians don’t like maps, and so they assume you’ll use them for sending coordinates.

Photographs of buildings or metropolis places may also be a entice as a result of they could be labeled as proof of Russian positions.

The Russians will look via your cellphone contacts and name historical past, and attempt to discover numbers from their database of pro-Ukraine folks or Ukrainian troopers. Even whether it is an unknown quantity to you, you possibly can nonetheless be caught if it is associated to somebody the Russians do not like.

We additionally contemplate the kind of cellphone our evacuees use. In the event that they use an Android cellphone, it’s totally straightforward for the Russians to recuperate loads of their deleted knowledge, like messages and photographs from the final two or three years.

To assist their case, we generally inform evacuees so as to add a little bit of Russian taste to their digital historical past by following sure Telegram channels or subscribing to pro-Russia YouTubers.

Surviving the checkpoint

Our group offers free evacuation to those that need to escape, and we attempt to plan each step for them. We prepare for licensed bus drivers to take them to Crimea or Rostov-on-Don, and if they cannot make it themselves to the gathering level, we pay for taxis, meals, or hostel stays.

However we’ve to compete with Russian drivers, who come from the east and supply determined Ukrainians journey into Russia for $400 a visit. We pay our drivers lower than $50 per particular person.

On the border, the interviewers will attempt to provoke the evacuees. They may ask inquiries to make Ukrainians offended and catch them slipping in the event that they assist Ukraine.

That is the place an evacuee’s legend is so necessary.

If, for instance, their brother is within the Ukrainian navy, they need to by no means inform the Russians that. They need to attempt to discuss how they hate battle and fake to be as impartial as attainable. Typically, it is helpful to say that they’re uninterested in the Ukrainian authorities.

The implications of failing the checkpoint clearance could be nice. You could be caught in occupied Ukraine. Or you possibly can go to jail. Or they’ll ship you to a deep a part of Russia with out telling anybody.

Dozens of my pals, colleagues, and evacuees have disappeared whereas making this journey, and I do not know the place they’re.

Outdated folks, youngsters, and the sick typically have a neater time, but it surely’s changing into lots more durable to go away occupied Ukraine. After I left Ukraine in early 2022, it was 40 days after the Russians took Nova Kakhovka.

Again then, the Russians thought they’d take our nation shortly. They discovered photographs and data on my cellphone that exposed I used to be pro-Ukraine, however someway I managed to lie my method via to Georgia. Now, they attempt to break all Ukrainians, even outdated grannies and moms.

Since January 2024, Russia has additionally required all Ukrainians to get a Russian passport for permission to cross the border. That is made our work much more troublesome, and it launched new problems. Boys and males, even these as younger as 15, get pressured to hitch the Russian military after they apply for a passport.

If a Ukrainian can overcome all of those obstacles and cross the border checkpoint, they’ll journey to Moscow. From there, they’ll take a prepare to Belarus or Europe and ultimately return to unoccupied Ukraine.

Your entire course of takes about 4 days. As for myself, I needed to cross a second checkpoint and undergo one other four-hour interview on my technique to Georgia, the place I stayed for six months. Now, I am in Western Europe serving to to coordinate evacuations.

We do not receives a commission for what we do. In 2024, my group helped to evacuate 360 Ukrainians, together with 106 youngsters, for a complete of $23,500. We additionally evacuated a horse and dozens of canine and cats.

We fundraise for prepare tickets, bus rides, and different evacuee bills. We’ve got a mission — to avoid wasting the Ukrainian folks, to avoid wasting the Ukrainian nation. This mission is our driving pressure, our gas.

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