Stories of Survival: Three Families Who Made It Out of Avdiivka

Leaving Everything Behind

When the evacuation buses finally came to Avdiivka in late January, Halyna, 67, had 10 minutes to pack. She grabbed her husband's photograph, her medications, and her cat Misha in a cardboard box. Everything else — a lifetime of memories, furniture her late husband built, her garden — she left behind forever.

"The bus driver told us to hurry. I could hear the artillery. I just ran."

The Petrenko Family

Serhiy Petrenko, 44, stayed in Avdiivka as long as possible to care for his elderly mother, who refused to leave her home. When a shell destroyed the building next door, she finally agreed. Call of Heart's evacuation team picked them up from the basement they'd been living in for three weeks.

Today, Serhiy's mother is in a nursing home in Lviv. Serhiy works at a food packaging plant — a job our integration program helped him find. "I don't know when I'll go back," he says. "But I know I will."

The Kovalenko Children

When we evacuated the Kovalenko family — mother Oksana, 38, and her three children aged 4, 7, and 12 — their father was on the front line. We helped them cross into Poland, enrolled the children in school, and connected Oksana with our legal team for asylum documentation.

Last month, their father visited on a three-day leave. The family video-called our coordinator in tears. "You kept them safe," he said.

What Your Donation Does

Each evacuation trip costs approximately $800 — covering fuel, driver compensation, transit accommodation, and documentation. In 2024, we funded 312 such trips, moving 14,200 people to safety.