In 2014, he left occupied Donetsk, and 8 years later he had to rescue his family from Mariupol, which was totally destroyed by the Russian occupiers. Entrepreneur Vladlen Senilov with his wife and 4-year-old twin daughters, started everything from scratch in Lviv.
In 2014, he left occupied Donetsk, and 8 years later he had to rescue his family from Mariupol, which was totally destroyed by the Russian occupiers. Entrepreneur Vladlen Senilov with his wife and 4-year-old twin daughters, started everything from scratch in Lviv.
“My first thought was to go to the village to my grandmother. But they called me from there and told me that they were being bombarded there so hard that the windows were blown out. We went to visit our parents living in a private house, but there was also a lot of shelling.
We sat in the basement for a while, and then I called my friend, who let us stay in his rented apartment, which seemed to be safer. We stopped there and stayed until the end of March. One night, when the air sirene was no longer sounding due to the lack of electricity, I went out on the balcony and saw a rocket flying into the house opposite. The picture is so-so because half the house was immediately ruined," - the man recalls.
They then decided to go down to the basement. He says that the residents of this building were even lucky, because there was a gym in the basement, so the conditions were more comfortable compared to the rest of the buildings.
"While gas was available there, we used to heat kettles in the apartment and cook food. Later, we had to cook on the grill in the yard,” - Vladlen shares.
Taking turns with other men, they were on duty at the entrance to this gym. He still remembers how, on the night of March 12-13, strong “arrivals” began, the door to the basement was knocked out, and something started burning hot at the entrance.
“I said: “Guys, our entrance is on fire!” And then I look: it was my car which was on fire! It had been turned upside down by a “Grad” hit and was ablaze. So I was left without a car... The further it went, the scarier it became, and it is just as scary to talk about it,” - says the man.
All this time, the residents were supported by the military of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, territorial defence units, and the police - they brought food, shared gasoline, and helped in any way they could. But when it became clear that it was impossible to stay with the children further, we decided to leave somehow.
We drove to Yuriivka, a village located on the coast of the Sea of Azov in my uncle's car.
For the first time in 24 days, I turned on my phone because we finally had electricity. I wrote on Instagram that I was alive. Thanks to my friends, we were accommodated in a cottage boarding house and were able to go to the bathhouse, because we had only used wet napkins for a month.”
One of Vladlen’s friends got in touch, and he was allowed to take the friend’s car, which was in one of the neighbouring villages. But the car was almost taken away by the people from the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" when they went around Yuriivka and did the so-called “census” of people.
“They came to our house with guns, asked for documents, checked men for tattoos... The next day, others came, checked mobile phones, wrote down all contacts, and copied passport data. One of them asked me: “Whose car is it?" I answered that this car is owned by my friend. They started looking at each other. We had to give money for them to leave us alone,” - Vladlen says.
“The occupiers warned that the car could be taken away at a checkpoint because it had Kyiv license plates. The whole family thought for a long time about what to do. But then we decided that it was necessary to take a risk and leave as soon as possible.
Our journey was difficult. One night we had to stand in the field near a so-called checkpoint. In the end, we reached Berdyansk, and from there to Zaporizhzhia. We decided to send the women and children to Lviv by evacuation train. All in all, it took them a week to get to the Lviv region.
My brother's classmate, who studied in Lviv and started volunteering, helped us. We went to the village Monastyrets. We were very well met there, they cooked us a rabbit with potatoes, gave us a bed, everything we needed. I am sincerely grateful to these people and when there is an opportunity, I will thank everyone who helped me!" - the man says.
They stayed in the village for three days. However, they could not take the family there, because the house was old and unsuitable for living with children.
Thanks to the support provided by the friends and acquaintances who helped with donations, the family was able to rent a small apartment on the outskirts of Lviv. Vladlen found a job because he is convinced that it is impossible to live only on the state benefits if you are healthy and have arms and legs. Now he donates to the Ukrainian Armed Forces whenever possible, and helps in whatever way he can.
The family has no plans to go back to Mariupol. After all, as they found out later, their apartment was burned to the ground.
“After the Victory, most likely, we will stay in Lviv. And I will take my family to our Ukrainian Donetsk. I will show them the places where I grew up, studied, and walked. And in Mariupol, we will go to the Sea of Azov,” - Vladlen dreams.