From CNBCTV:
“61-year-old Ukrainian man
walks 225km to safety from Mariupol”
(Igor Pedin, 61, who walked 140
miles from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, says journey through warzone has taken its
toll on dog, Zhu-Zhu.)
Thousands of residents of
Mariupol are fleeing from the port-city ravaged by the Russian military forces
to safety as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has entered the third month. Igor
Pedin, a 61-year-old man decided to leave his home town on foot with a bag of
supplies and his 9-year-old dog Zhu-Zhu aiming to reach the town of
Zaporizhzhia, located 225 kilometres away.
According to a Guardian report,
Igor decided to leave after he witnessed Russian troops land in his
neighbourhood and firing at the homes of civilians. He filled a backpack with
his belongings, which weighed 50 kilograms, and hit the road at 6 am on April
23 with his dog Zhu-Zhu, the report added.
Igor dodged many convoys of
tanks, armoured vehicles and trigger-happy Russian soldiers racing towards
Mariupol during his journey. He sidestepped mines and crossed destroyed bridges
with his dog and luggage. He even risked his life at times where an erring step
could have led to a 30 feet drop to certain death. It was an extremely
emotional journey as well as he would come across heart breaking scenes, the
smouldering homes and weeping men and women, quoted the Guardian as narrated by
Igor.
Pedin, who worked as a cook in a
ship could not anticipate any of this and indeed he did not prove to be
invisible, he confessed as he shared his tale in the safety of the Ukrainian
capital, Kyiv. On the first day, Igor Pedin aimed to reach the town of
Nikolske, 20km from his house. He recalls on his way, he dodged a convoy of
heavy armoured vehicles that shook the ground beneath him. He took his dog
Zhu-Zhu in his coat and sat still till the vehicles passed. “I looked like a
vagabond to them, I was nothing. I was dirty and covered from dust, as my house
had been filled with a fog of smoke” he told the Guardian. “I was an invisible man then. What am I to
them: who is this shadow?” he recalled.
He proceeded in his journey where
he was greeted by a mourning father who lost his 16-year-old son in a
shellfire. The next day Igor was stopped at a checkpoint guarded by Chechens,
who brought him back two kilometers to a “filtration camp”. Pedin was
photographed, searched and stripped naked to see if he had any tattoos that
would link him to the Ukrainian Army. Igor lied that he had a stomach ulcer and
was going to get treatment when a Russian officer asked him where he was going.
After spending two hours in the facility, Igor received a document “supposedly
from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s
Republic“, allowing him to pass other checkpoints.
As he resumed his journey, he was
again greeted late at night by six armed soldiers in Verzhyna. He was allowed
to leave the next day but not before dawn or else he would be shot. The next
day he walked for 20 hours, before reaching another checkpoint where he was
searched and again held for the night. He left at dawn, resuming his journey. He
crossed a destroyed bridge with a 30 metres void under him and climbed two
hills. He made several trips around the hills as he could not carry his
exhausted dog and baggage at the same time. He was helped by a truck driver in the
last leg of his journey. After a 2-hour long drive, crossing more checkpoints,
the driver dropped Igor near a camp in central Zaporizhzhia. The driver also
gave Igor 1,000 Ukrainian hryvnia (£30).
At the camp, he saw volunteers
and the Ukrainian flag as he was cheered by a woman for achieving the
impossible feat. “I suppose it was my moment of glory,” Igor told the Guardian.
^ This is a heart-breaking story,
but shows the true love between a Man and his Dog. ^
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