He lost his daughter, grandson, native home. How a displaced person from Tokmak is waiting for the deoccupation of his city

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The world’s attention is focused on the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces in the southern direction. People who haven’t seen their native home for almost a year and a half and only occasionally receive news from there are keeping a close eye on him. Mostly – disappointing. Oleksiy Ignatenko is one of those who did not want to live under occupation and managed to leave his native Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia region, to the territory controlled by Ukraine in the spring of last year. Since then, his life has changed dramatically. The man is one of the 150,000 forcibly displaced persons sheltered in the Dnipro. His wife and minor son are in Poland, and his eldest daughter and granddaughter were killed by a Russian missile. Oleksiy spoke about the grief he experienced for the special project “Hide Your People” on “UP. Life”. Oleksiy Ignatenko with his dead grandson Empty houses in Tokmak were occupied by “visitors” Oleksiy Ignatenko believes that Tokmak will be released soon, he will return again under the blue and yellow flag. However, he is not sure that he will be able to return to the city where he grew up. “A “visiting” family lives in my house. “Guests” have also moved into my grandmother’s house. The relatives’ premises have generally been turned into a real brothel. All my acquaintances, with whom I communicate, no longer have their own place – either someone lives there, or everything was robbed to the bare walls. I don’t even know if I will be able to return to the house where some people lived, the occupiers. It’s disgusting. So far, that’s the feeling,” the man admits. Tokmak was occupied on the second day of the great war. In the city itself, according to Oleksiy, there were actually no battles: “A large enemy column entered, maybe 100 units of equipment, maybe more – no one counted. Our boys were standing near the bridge, across the river. Not even 20 minutes had passed – how they were all shot from one cannon. That was the whole war that the city saw at that time.” Before the full-scale invasion, about 30,000 people lived in Tokmak. Back in 2017, the city became “famous” throughout the country, when it was the first among all to receive the status of “depressed territory” from the Groysman government. According to the law “On stimulation of the development of regions”, it was given to cities where the level of unemployment is much higher and the average salary is much lower than in other “territories of the group”. The program provided for additional financial stimulation of the city at the expense of the state and the region. “Before the occupation, it was already a very, very beautiful city,” says Oleksiy. “The central streets are paved, there are flowers, trees. The central squares are clean, the city began to look European. Although there are not so many places of interest: the tank and the central square. More nothing”. Oleksiy lived in Tokmak all his life. He worked in the fire department for 17 years. Only when the contract ended in 2016 and the salary fell in half, the man went to Poland to earn money. He also met his wife Olga in Tokmak. She was a designer in the gas industry, gasified the city. The children – a daughter and a son – went to the same school that their father graduated from. “During the occupation, the city became depressed again,” he says. “Already in the first days, heavy equipment passed through and destroyed the central part. Today, Tokmak survives, water and electricity are not everywhere. Although those who remained there do not tell much. They are in Russian mobile operators, we occasionally communicate via the Internet when they have it. I don’t know for sure what is there now, but the last time I spoke, they said it was very difficult.” Escape from the occupation Oleksii and his family and all their relatives managed to leave the occupation. The vast majority went abroad, some to Zaporizhzhia, some to Dnipro. Daughter Anastasia was the first to leave Ukraine in March 2022 with grandson Makar, who was only six months old at the time. They lived in the Dnipro. Thanks to volunteers, Nastya found shelter in Poland. Subsequently, Oleksiy managed to send his wife and son Mykyta from Tokmak to Poland via evacuation buses from Mariupol. They live there under a special program for Ukrainian refugees. He left later himself, together with his mother-in-law and nephews – 5-year-old Sashko and 13-year-old Kirill: “Without any queues, I just sat down and drove. I drove 160 kilometers for 12 hours: from 8 am to 8 pm, when I arrived in Zaporizhzhia. We passed 13 enemy checkpoints, at each of them there is a thorough inspection and search.” Then he went to the Dnipro, to his son-in-law. For some time they lived together in a one-room apartment. Nastya came to them in the summer. “On July 3, they celebrated their grandson’s first birthday in Poland, and after that they decided to return to Ukraine,” the husband says. A Russian rocket took them away: the daughter was burned, and the grandson’s body has not yet been found. The four lived in the same place, but, of course, it was cramped. And on January 6, they rented a separate apartment in Dnipro… on Naberezhna Peremogy Street, 118. It was in that entrance where a week later, on January 14, at 3:30 p.m., a Russian rocket hit and took them all away. Then the Russians took the lives of 46 people and wounded 79 with one blow. Another 11 are still considered missing. Among them was one and a half year old Makarchyk, who at that lunch time, as usual, was quietly sleeping in his mother’s gentle arms. “There is no hope that he is alive, although the child still hasn’t been found,” the grief-stricken grandfather shakes his head. “. Everyone is sent for DNA tests. So far, nothing. But I know their regime: at that time, the little one had an afternoon nap, and the daughter was always with him.” Then Oleksiy worked in a taxi. He was driving a client when he heard the explosion. He says that it will be really loud, but everyone is already used to it, so he didn’t pay much attention. Only when the passenger’s son called and gave the address did everything fall inside him. He literally flew to Victory Embankment. He left the car at the police border, ran, saw – and understood everything: “It was their entrance, on the floor… It was scary! They were not found immediately, but only the next day, Sunday. They were recognized at first by their personal belongings. And later I recognized my daughter by with an unusual shape of the ear. It burned. Only a quarter of it remained… Even remembering such a thing is extremely difficult.” She is forever 27. They were very proud of their daughter. As a child, she spent all her free time on sports grounds, at the stadium. In the end, she became a master of sports of Ukraine in jumping on an acrobatic track, a multiple champion of the Zaporizhia region, a prize-winner of the championships of Ukraine. She worked as a coach, was a judge of the national category in sports acrobatics. “When she was still very young, she really loved when she was lifted in her arms just under the ceiling, she laughed so joyfully,” her father recalls. in DYSSH”. From that time, she devoted herself to sports: “Training was something sacred. There was no greater punishment for her than to deprive her of training. We used to stimulate her like this – they say, if something doesn’t work out at school, she will have to skip a section to improve her knowledge.” . She was engaged in sports acrobatics from the age of 6. In the 11th grade, while still studying at school, she fulfilled the standards of the Master of Sports of Ukraine and got into the national team. At all Ukrainian competitions, Anastasia Ignatenko was among the prize winners. Then she entered the Institute of Physical Education and Sports in Dnipro. She started working as a coach in the third year. “The children appreciated and loved her very much, they considered her a member of the family. She also lived by this. When she returned from Poland, she immediately opened her gym. She even trained a boy with Down syndrome, found a common language with him,” the man recalls. Counting kilometers to his native Tokmak Oleksiy Olga’s wife remains in Poland. That day, an hour and a half before the explosion, they spoke on the phone with their daughter for the last time – Nastya was putting Makar to bed. Oleksiy says, it’s just unreal hard for her – because she couldn’t persuade Anastasia to stay there, abroad: “Actually, everyone persuaded her. But my daughter was always like this: as she decided, so it will be. Nikita’s son is also struggling with the loss of his sister. They were very close ones, Nastya was a real role model for him.” Nikity is now 17. Before the full-scale invasion, he planned to enter the Dnipro National University named after Oles Gonchar, but the war made adjustments. The guy graduated from school in Zaporizhzhia online and applied for admission to a Polish higher education institution for the IT specialty. He is preparing to build his life abroad. But, just like my father, he follows the progress of the Ukrainian military at the front, counting the kilometers remaining to his native Tokmak. *** On the “Shelter” website, caring Ukrainians can offer housing for displaced persons by placing a corresponding ad. Therefore, IDPs can find temporary shelter in any region of Ukraine or abroad, for a few days or for a longer period. The filter system will help you easily choose an option that meets your criteria and quickly contact the owner. The site works in 40 languages. This is a completely volunteer initiative. It was launched on the first day of the full-scale invasion by People’s Deputy of Ukraine Halyna Yanchenko. Later, the “Shelter” program received state support. Homeowners who sheltered displaced persons receive compensation from the state for the payment of communal services. Roksana Kasumova, specially for “UP. Life”

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