More than 18 months after Russia's invasion, many Ukrainians still seek ways to escape occupied territories. One way is to go into Russia and then enter Ukrainian-controlled areas. DW's Aya Ibrahim met some who had fled at a reception center.
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00:00 They have a long road behind them.
00:03 When Russia attacked Ukraine in February of last year, they suddenly found themselves
00:08 under occupation.
00:10 Now they're back on Ukrainian-controlled land, after a journey that lasted two days
00:16 and two nights.
00:20 It was scary at their checkpoints.
00:21 They're Russians and they do not consider us Ukrainians as human beings.
00:27 We didn't know what to expect from them.
00:30 The woman checking passports spoke aggressively to us.
00:36 Ella endured a lot under occupation.
00:40 Her teen son had to flee after Russians beat him up for expressing pro-Ukraine opinions.
00:47 Her husband could not find treatment for an injury and had to stop working.
00:52 Then Russian authorities threatened to take her two small children away to a boarding
00:55 school and pressured them to get Russian passports.
00:59 That's when Ella felt she had to do everything to get away and borrowed money to flee.
01:06 We didn't have any money to leave earlier.
01:08 We're Ukrainians at heart.
01:10 I've lived here for 40 years.
01:13 I cannot simply forget that to become a Russian and swear allegiance to them.
01:20 Between 50 and 150 people enter Ukrainian-controlled territory through the Kolotilovka-Pokrovka
01:25 crossing every day.
01:27 Only Ukrainians are allowed in.
01:30 If they don't have someone waiting for them, they're brought here.
01:35 Volunteers give them food, a place to rest, and make a plan.
01:40 Ukrainian border control also screens arrivals to weed out potential saboteurs.
01:46 This volunteer tells me that people coming from places like Donetsk, which have been
01:50 under Russian-sponsored control since 2014, are especially influenced by Putin's propaganda.
01:57 They think that we're stupid here, that the Americans are manipulating us, that the
02:02 war is pure politics.
02:04 Some think that half of Ukraine simply doesn't exist, that there are ruins, that it's run
02:08 by Nazis.
02:11 But mostly they just need help, after leaving almost everything behind.
02:16 For people leaving occupied territories, this is the last leg of their journey back to their
02:22 lives.
02:23 They board trains to Kiev, hoping that whatever's waiting for them there is better than what
02:27 they've left behind.
02:35 The Russians treated us badly.
02:37 They constantly put pressure on people, they forced people to switch to Russian documents
02:43 and to work for them.
02:49 I want it to end as soon as possible.
02:52 I want to go home.
02:53 I want to breathe freely there.
02:56 What are my plans?
02:58 We were promised aid with housing.
02:59 We just don't know.
03:02 Maybe we'll live somewhere on the floor.
03:07 Officials here tell us around 22,000 Ukrainians have fled occupation since the start of the
03:12 invasion.
03:13 Even if their first days living under a Ukrainian flag are difficult, authorities hope more
03:18 and more will make the choice people in this train have made.