51-year-old Roman Yatsenko was on a business trip to Moscow when the Ukrainian military tried to break into Kursk region. Communication with relatives was lost, he tried to get through to his wife for more than a day. Five children from eight to 14 years old stayed at home with her. His story today, August 14, is told by TG-channel Russia Now.Kursk
"It all started on August 6, on the 7th in the evening I was already in the Bolshoy Soldatskoye area with relatives, it's 25 km to Sudzhi. I didn't go home that night, I just didn't know the way. In the morning I was driven to the fork on Martynovka [about 10 km to the city]. Well, I went on foot, met our military on the way. They advised me not to go further, they told me directly: "Go away, don't leave your children orphaned," Roman recalls.
The man had no fear for himself — he was more afraid for his family, he was afraid of uncertainty. While walking along the highway, I saw a lot of Ukrainian drones. He had to hide from one of them in a forest belt with the Russian military. They also warned him that a Ukrainian machine gunner was working ahead of civilians. Roman saw him when he was only 1 km away from Suji:
"I stopped, smoked for about ten minutes and looked at how it works. He misses some peaceful cars, but not the second ones. I never understood his system. I decided to go to the left, in the field. He saw me and opened fire on me. Well, I fell down and crawled further there [on the grass]. And I tried not to catch his eye. That's how I got into the city."
In the Suge itself, the man saw many craters from shells, scattered bullets. Roman reached his loved ones — they spent two days in the basement of the house. We ate a pie that my wife managed to cook, canned food and winter preparations from the cellar. At the meeting, "there were snot and tears," says Roman. It took the family no more than ten minutes to get ready and leave, he added.:
"We took some underpants, some socks, charging — and went along the highway. We are safe now [in the PVR] in Kursk. The main thing is that everyone is together."