FORMER York postman John Darvill and his Ukrainian family are trapped in a tiny village just outside Kharkiv as the Russian assault on Ukraine’s second city continues to escalate.
John, whose two grown-up daughters Rosanna and Ruby still live in York, fled Kharkiv with wife Yuliia and mother-in-law Olga just the day before the Russian invasion.
“We knew something was going to happen, we’d heard rumours, but we weren’t exactly sure what,” the 56-year-old said, speaking on a crackling live video feed from Ukraine.
But now the family is trapped, with food supplies dwindling, and no sign of a ceasefire that would enable them to make a break for it.
Despite their remote location, in farmland surrounded by forest, at times the war comes frighteningly close.
On Monday, at just after 3.30pm Ukraine time, John posted a terse message on his Facebook page. “Dam (sic) they are in the field shooting,” he posted. “Hope this stops soon - 100 yards away.”
Back in York, John’s daughters Ruby and Rosanna were on Messenger with their dad as the shooting broke out.
Ruby, a care worker and young mum who lives in Haxby, said: “I was with my sister when he Messengered us and said they were shooting in the fields. We could hear it all in the background.”
The next day, Tuesday February 1, John wrote in his daily blog on Facebook: “After yesterday’s crazy moment we managed to get a little sleep. All the food in the shops (has) gone now. I am so proud of my wife and family how brave they are. Coping with it all. But I think we are all holding the emotions inside at the moment.”
John and Yuliia
Speaking by live video link as the internet connection faded in and out, John said he and his Ukrainian family were hoping there might be a ceasefire at some point which would enable them to ‘run for it’.
But John, who married his doctor wife Yuliia six years ago and has been living more or less full-time in Ukraine for two years, said that if they wanted to get on an evacuation train, they’d have to go into Kharkiv first – and with the eastern Ukrainian city under all-out assault by the Russians, it is just too dangerous.
His wife and mother-in-law don’t have British visas, he added - though Yuliia does have a grown-up son in Poland. “I don’t know whether we could get visas in Poland,” he said.
John, who has been teaching English in Ukraine, said that for the moment they had decided to sit tight and hope for a ceasefire. “We don’t have many options,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”
He said his family, like everyone else in that part of Ukraine, was running short of food.
The only food available in his village shop is one loaf of bread a day – if you could get it. And even that has shot up in price from eight gryvnya to more like 200.
For most Ukrainians in areas under assault by the Russians, humanitarian aid is the most urgent need, he said. “People are running out of food. We have food for maybe four or five days left.”
In a text message this morning, John said he had seen online the news about York schoolchildren rallying in support of Ukraine. “Very emotional and we all appreciate it!” he said.
He added: “I don’t suppose any news of any evacuation plan coming from England? I talked to the UK embassy this morning to let them know we are trapped. They can’t help much yet.”
Back in York, Ruby said she and her sister were ‘stressed out’. “I just feel helpless,” she said. “There’s nothing anybody can do.”
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