"There is no bread here, money is worthless"   

People in the northern Ukrainian city of Slavutych have been under siege since the first days of the war. Supplies of food and fuel haven’t reached the city for days, and reserves are almost exhausted.

This city, located about 13 km from the border with Belarus, is home to about 25,000 people, including Armenians. The city was built in 1986 to house those displaced by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Russian troops have since captured the plant. It is 40 km away from the city of Chernihiv (Chernigov), targeted by Russian gunfire.  

Hetq, by telephone, spoke with 50-year-old Slavutych resident Karen Shahbazyan, who holds Armenian citizenship. 

"For several days now, there is no bread in the city. People are in full panic mode. Rumors abound about alleged flour supplies or that tomorrow morning fifty loaves of bread will be available. You’ll see six hundred people lining up for the bread. It’s a confusing mess,” says Karen Shahbazyan.

Slavutych residents have taken matters in their own hands, traveling to nearby villages requesting food.  

"Today we managed to get some fuel. We went to a village five kilometers distant and got some flour. We distributed it to Armenian families so that everyone could bake at least one or two loaves of bread and live," says Karen Shahbazyan. 

"We go to the villages. They understand us, give us half a bag of flour, a bag of potatoes. But the villagers’ reserves are finite. They also understand that there’s a war and they too will go without tomorrow.” 

To flee Slavutych, one must first reach the city of Chernigov, which is being shelled. The road is not safe. There is fighting and various subversive groups.

"In the early days, we contacted the embassy. They wanted our information. They disappeared. Then, they told us to go to Lviv, where they’d help us. If we can reach Lviv, why do we need their help? This must be organized at a high level. They must ask for a corridor out, otherwise I cannot evacuate families. Something must happen,” says Shahbazyan, referring to the Armenian Embassy in Kyiv.

Shahbazyan says no one from the embassy has contacted them or offered help.  

"I got in touch with one of the representatives of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine. He told me to find someone who could get us out, that we’d pay them. If you go to the store, there is nothing. What can you do with your money?" says Karen.  

According to the Live Universal Awareness Map, Russian troops have surrounded Slavutych.

"Apart from the shelling and military operations around our city, they have distributed weapons to all those who went and asked for guns. Everyone now has weapons. People, however, prefer to leave the city amidst the gunfire rather than stay and starve to death," says Shahbazyan.

"I want them to be honest in our country, to say that it is not possible to evacuate people, it is not possible to negotiate with the Russians or Ukrainians. They shouldn’t say all is good because it isn’t. We are in one of the hot spots and no one has called us or sent a piece of bread. But they declare the Armenians are safe. Who have you helped? Whom have you evacuated? What Armenian is safe?" asks an irate Shahbazyan, referring to the lack of Armenian government support.