Social media users were stunned by the story of 88-year-old Ukrainian grandfather Ivan Yakovych, who refused to obtain Russian citizenship under duress.
The older Ukrainian man independently left the occupied part of Donetsk region
According to Vadim Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, the Russian occupiers took away the man's Ukrainian passport to replace it with a Russian one.
However, this did not scare the grandfather, so he decided to risk his life to get to his native land.
Volunteers met Ivan Yakovych in the territory controlled by Ukraine and helped him get to Pokrovsk.
All night, Mr. Ivan went to some kind of moving house. Since there were shellings, he was forced to wait them out. And then he went on. He only had a pension certificate and a backpack with things. The occupiers took the Ukrainian passport from him and his neighbors, Ivan Filashkin noted.
They decided to evacuate the brave grandfather to a temporary shelter in the Dnipro.
After that, he will be transferred to one of the institutions of social protection, where the man will be allocated housing and provided with the necessary assistance.
Mr. Ivan's story is impressive. This is a civic position and love for the Motherland, concluded Vadym Filashkin.
The Russians catch men in the Kherson region and force them to fight
In the occupied territories of the Kherson region, the Russian invaders are trying to capture as many Ukrainian men of conscription age as possible.
After that, they are forcibly mobilised for war against their own country.
In addition, it emphasised that war criminals from the Russian army are looking for representatives of the Ukrainian underground in Crimea.
They also actively carry out mobilisation at the expense of men who are caught in the occupied territories.
