Last resident of Ukrainian frontline village escapes with two dogs after five months living with soldiers
A 64-year-old woman who spent five months living alongside Ukrainian soldiers on a frontline position has reached safety after an almost month-long journey on foot through dangerous terrain - accompanied by four servicemen and her two dogs.
Svitlana Podolska was the last remaining resident of Mala Tokmachka, a village in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region devastated by Russia's war, according to the Ukrainian military's 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which announced her rescue on November 13.
Her husband was killed by a Russian drone shortly before Easter, when he went out looking for cigarettes. Even after his death, Podolska struggled to leave the home and animals she had cared for.
"I looked after my house until the very end. I had a vegetable garden. I fed my pig, goats and chickens," she recalled in an account published by the brigade. "I kept thinking: What if the war ends tomorrow? Am I supposed to abandon everything now?"
After seven Russian drones struck her property, she finally sought shelter with Ukrainian troops, hoping to evacuate alongside them.
- Svitlana with the soldiers who took her out of Mala Tokmachka118th separate mechanized brigade
- Svitlana with the soldiers who took her out of Mala Tokmachka118th separate mechanized brigade
But leaving proved almost impossible.
For five months, Podolska remained with soldiers of the 118th Brigade as Russian drones, mined routes and difficult weather conditions prevented military vehicles from reaching their position.
In late September, as morning fog began settling over the southern Ukrainian steppe, four servicemen - known by their callsigns Viking, Stef, Sichen and Viktor - set out with Podolska and her two dogs.
The journey to safety took nearly a month.
"We moved in short bursts, and only in the gray light, so they wouldn't spot us," Podolska recalled.
They had to cross a river three times. At one point, she became tangled in an obstacle and Viktor helped free her.
"I was so afraid Viktor would drown. He was wearing body armor, and he had me as an extra burden," she said. "I was terribly worried about becoming a problem for them, about letting them down."
Even now, she struggles to explain how she survived the journey.
"We went through things together that not everyone could survive. We became closer than family," she said.
On October 21, Podolska and the soldiers finally reached safety.
She is now living near her daughter in a rented home that servicemen from the brigade's 1st Mechanized Battalion helped arrange.
And both dogs made it out with her.
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