I helped thousands of Ukrainians escape Russian occupation. When they get caught, it’s usually because of their cell phones.

• Stefan Vorontsov was a Ukrainian volunteer who secretly mentored those who wanted to leave occupied Ukraine.

• He told immigration what it was like to evacuate and prepare to be checked by border authorities.

• The most difficult part of the journey is the border checkpoint, where Ukrainians can be interrogated for six hours, he said.

This article is based on Stefan Vorontsovis a Ukrainian who fled Russian-occupied Novokakhovka in early 2022.

Vorontsov is trying to raise awareness of the situation at the border and limiting interviews to information he believes will not jeopardize the safety of evacuees. The following content has been edited for length and clarity.

Ukrainians who want to escape Russian occupation have only one way out: Russia itself.

It was too dangerous to cross the front line, so we had to go through Crimea or Rostov-on-Don. Each country has a border checkpoint that allows Ukrainians to enter Russia, but passing these checkpoints is very difficult.

Russian border authorities are constantly screening people to catch pro-Ukrainian guerrillas or punish those who have family members in the Ukrainian military. One mistake could mean you go to jail or get out of jail forever.

When Ukrainian evacuees contact us, we give them a “legend”. This is the false story we have to create about why they want to enter Russia, their family and national identity, and their past.

For example, a patient can say they want to go to a Russian hospital, and a family member can say they want to go to the Black Sea and relax on a beach.

It’s much harder for young Ukrainians, especially those who have been flagged by Russia for pro-Ukrainian posts online. For these guys, we have to make sure their legends are strong.

In most cases, I carefully messaged the evacuees using Telegram’s “secret chat” feature. I had to be careful about what I told them because I knew Russia might be able to read every word I wrote.

Russians search for everything about you

There are many reasons why Ukrainians did not flee before Russian troops arrived. Many people are sick. Many people have children. Even though the war is on your doorstep, on your street, making the decision to leave home permanently can be very difficult.

I have learned over the years that 95% of the success of an evacuation depends on how well people are prepared before they leave.

The most important thing Ukrainians must do is clean their phones.

The Russians check everything at the border checkpoints and they are always looking for people with pro-Ukrainian views.

Evacuees must prepare for what could be a six-hour interview at a border checkpoint, where guards will scrutinize everything about them: their cellphones, social media posts and search histories.

Anything to do with Ukraine could implicate you. Single words in Ukrainian, text messages from family, photos of the Ukrainian flag, even the color blue and yellow can get you in trouble. Guards can see if you like or subscribe to pro-Ukrainian social media channels.

Deleting maps is especially important. Russians don’t like maps, they think you’ll use them to send coordinates.

Photos of buildings or urban locations can also be a trap, as they may be labeled as evidence of Russia’s position.

The Russians will look at your phone contacts and call history and try to find numbers from their database of pro-Ukrainians or Ukrainian soldiers. Even if you don’t know the number, you might still get caught if it’s associated with someone the Russians don’t like.

We also consider the types of cell phones used by evacuees. If they use an Android phone, Russians can easily recover large amounts of deleted data, such as messages and photos from the past two or three years.

To help them out, we sometimes tell evacuees to add a little Russian flavor to their digital history by following certain Telegram channels or subscribing to pro-Russian YouTube users.

Survive the checkpoint

Our organization provides free evacuation to those who want to escape, and we try to plan every step for them. We arrange for a licensed bus driver to take them to Crimea or Rostov-on-Don, and if they are unable to reach the meeting point on their own, we pay for taxi, food or hotel accommodation.

But we have to compete with Russian drivers, who come from the East and offer desperate Ukrainians trips to Russia for $400 a trip. We paid the driver less than $50 per person.

At the border, interviewers try to provoke evacuees. If they support Ukraine, they will ask questions to anger Ukrainians and put them in trouble.

This is where the legend of the evacuees is so important.

For example, if their brother is in the Ukrainian army, they should not tell the Russians. They should try talking about how they hate war and pretend to be as neutral as possible. Sometimes it is useful to say they are fed up with the Ukrainian government.

The consequences of failing a checkpoint can be severe. You could be trapped in occupied Ukraine. Or you can go to jail. Or they can send you deep into Russia without telling anyone.

Dozens of my friends, colleagues and evacuees were lost on this journey and I have no idea where they are.

The elderly, children and the sick generally have it easier, but leaving occupied Ukraine is becoming increasingly difficult. When I left Ukraine in early 2022, 40 days had passed since the Russians captured Novokakhovka.

At the time, the Russians thought they would soon take over our country. They found photos and messages on my phone showing that I was pro-Ukrainian, but somehow I managed to trick Georgia. Now they are trying to destroy all Ukrainians, even old grandmothers and mothers.

Starting in January 2024, Russia will also require all Ukrainians to hold a Russian passport to cross the border. This makes our job more difficult and introduces new complexities. Boys and men, even as young as 15, face pressure to join the Russian army when they apply for a passport.

If Ukrainians can overcome all these obstacles and pass the border checkpoint, they can travel to Moscow. From there, they can take a train to Belarus or Europe and eventually return to unoccupied Ukraine.

The entire process takes approximately four days. As for myself, I had to pass a second checkpoint and undergo another four-hour interview on my way to Georgia, where I stayed for six months. Now, I’m helping coordinate evacuations in Western Europe.

We don’t get paid for what we do. In 2024, my organization helped evacuate 360 ​​Ukrainians, including 106 children, for a total of $23,500. We also evacuated a horse and dozens of dogs and cats.

We raised money for train tickets, bus tickets and other costs for evacuees. We have one mission – to save the Ukrainian people and save the Ukrainian country. This mission is our motivation, our fuel.

Read the original article on Business Insider