Ilya Barabanov and Anastasia Lotareva
BBC in Russian
When Sergei and Tatyana Voronkov moved from Russia to a small Ukrainian village, they hoped for a peaceful life.
Everything turned out completely different.
After Moscow launched an invasion of the country, the couple found themselves in occupied territory and decided to start working as informants for the Ukrainian military.
What followed was detention, interrogation, and escape to Europe with the help of forged documents – and a swimming ring.
Shortly after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Sergei and Tatyana Voronkov decided to leave Russia.
The two had long been disappointed with the direction their country was heading under President Vladimir Putin, but the illegal annexation of Crimea and the start of fighting in eastern Ukraine were a turning point.
"We went to anti-war protests, but we soon realized it was futile," says Sergei, who is now 55.
"I would tell my friends and acquaintances that it was bad that we had seized Crimea and that we were engaged in Donbas [a large industrial region in eastern Ukraine]... They would tell us, if we didn't like it, then we should leave. And we decided to go."
Tatyana (52), who was born in Donbas but, like her husband, is a Russian citizen, says her colleagues at work disliked her anti-Kremlin views and she eventually quit shortly after Crimea was annexed.
For the next five years, the couple traveled to Ukraine every six months in search of a new home.
Then, in 2019, they settled in Novolyubimivka, a village with about 300 inhabitants in the southeast of Zaporozhye Oblast, where they raised livestock.
Sergei also found work as a surveyor, a field he specialized in during his service in the Soviet army.
Then, on February 24, 2022, the first Russian missiles flew over their home.
"In the morning I heard something whistling, something flying, and I went outside," Tatyana recalls.
"A missile flew right over our house. I went online to see what happened and it said that Kiev had already been bombed."
On February 26, Novolyubimivka, like most of the southern Zaporozhye region, came under Russian occupation, although at first the couple did not come into direct contact with the occupying forces.
But within a few days, when a Russian military convoy passed by their house, Tatyana decided to do something.
Seeing the convoy passing, Tatyana ran inside, grabbed her phone, and texted an acquaintance in Kiev, whom she believed was in contact with Ukrainian security forces.
An acquaintance sent her a link to a special chatbot on the messaging app Telegram.
The chatbot informed them that they would be contacted by a person with a unique identification code.
The pair were asked to send locations and details of electronic warfare systems and heavy military equipment when they saw them – with particular attention to missile systems and tanks.
The locations will help the Ukrainian army target and destroy Russian troops in the area with drones and artillery.
"We didn't see it as a betrayal," says Tatyana, despite both being Russian citizens.
"It would be treason if Russia was attacked and we cooperated with the enemy. But no one attacked Russia. This was a fight against evil."
The couple insists that the information they passed on did not lead to attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure.
"Once there was a big, tempting target, but the Ukrainian military said, 'We won't hit it, we'll hit people's homes,'" says Sergei.
For two months, Sergei collected coordinates, and Tatyana transmitted them over the phone, carefully removing all traces of the messages later.
The couple was in touch with their contact in Kiev until the end of April 2022, when Novolyubimivka lost access to the internet.
By then, armed men were constantly coming to the village, entering and searching the property.
They also visited the Voronkovs several times.
Asked why they didn't leave the occupied territory, the couple replied: "Where would we go?"
They did not want to return to Russia, and they would not be allowed to cross into unoccupied Ukrainian territory with Russian documents.
Above all, they felt "at home" where they were and wanted to continue to help Kiev in its war effort.
It all ended with Sergei's arrest.
Interrogation in a cold basement pit
As Russian citizens, the two have attracted the attention of Russian security officials since the beginning of the occupation.
But it was not until late April last year that Sergei was arrested by armed men in the regional center of Tokmok.
Sergei says that men, who were not wearing any military insignia, took him to a house and placed him in a cold basement pit, about two meters wide and three meters deep, where he slept in a squatting position.
He describes how the next day he was interrogated with a bag over his head and threatened with violence, while officers questioned him about whether he had been passing details about Russian positions to the Ukrainians.
After initially denying any involvement, he confessed on the fourth day of his detention, fearing that if he was subjected to violence, he might reveal the others.
While this was happening, Tatyana says she traveled around the area in a desperate search for her husband, calling hospitals and morgues.
Their son, who still lived near Moscow, began contacting various authorities around Moscow – from the state Investigative Committee to the president.
On the tenth day after Sergei's arrest, security forces came to Tatyana's house in Novolyubimivka to conduct a search.
They dug up $4.400 from the garden – savings the couple had hidden.
It was not until May 7, 39 days after Sergei's arrest, that Tatyana received information about her husband's whereabouts.
"In Tokmok, the police told me: 'He's sitting in the basement. The FSB arrested him. Counterintelligence."
On May 26, people who introduced themselves to Sergei as FSB agents recorded his confession.
Two days later, to Sergei's great surprise, he was unexpectedly released – although his captors kept almost all of his documents, with the exception of his driver's license.
To this day, Sergei and Tatyana do not understand why he was released after confessing.
Sergei went to the passport office in Tokmok and requested documents, but the Russian occupation authorities were in no hurry to issue him a new passport.
After Sergei's release, the couple believe that Russian security services continued to monitor them.
Various cars would constantly pass by to check on the house, and strangers would often come to the door to ask if they were selling anything.
The couple knew they wouldn't be left alone.
After consulting with human rights activists in Europe, they decided to leave the occupied territory – first by returning to Russia, where Sergei hoped to obtain a new passport, and then by leaving for Europe from there.
Their neighbors in Tokmok helped them by buying livestock and equipment from them.
The couple even managed to find a new home for their dogs, who Sergei says were his biggest concern.
The Russian military moved into their house two weeks after they left, Sergei says.
Escape with a rope
When they left Novolyubimivka, the Voronkovs decided to make up a story in case they were stopped by Russian forces, even using props to make it more convincing.
The couple loaded the car with beach gear – including a wide-brimmed straw hat and an inflatable swimming ring – and planned to say they were going to the seaside so Tatyana, who has asthma, could get some fresh air.
But in the end they weren't stopped.
The couple were initially denied entry to Russia, but were eventually able to enter on their second attempt after Sergei obtained a certificate proving that he had applied for a new passport.
After further delays in obtaining a new passport and a failed attempt to leave Russia via Belarus, Sergei purchased a fake passport, with his own name, via Telegram.
The couple then managed to travel by bus to Belarus and cross the border with the help of Sergei's fake passport.
From there they crossed over to Lithuania, a member of the European Union and a close ally of Ukraine.
Family rift
But border guards in Lithuania discovered that Sergei's documents were forged and placed him in pre-trial detention.
For Sergei, the experience was not unpleasant.
"After everything else I'd been through, it felt like I was in a boarding house - only one you couldn't leave," he said.
"You can shower twice a week. The beds are made regularly and the food is good."
A Lithuanian court found Sergei guilty of using a false passport and sentenced him to 26 days in prison, which he has already served in custody.
The couple now hopes to be granted asylum in Lithuania.
They live in a shelter for asylum seekers.
The Ukrainian military sent a letter of thanks to the Voronkovs, at the request of their former contact agent in Kiev, to assist with their asylum application.
The BBC has seen a copy of that letter.
Sergey's 87-year-old mother still lives in Russia.
Her views conflict with her son's, and at the beginning of the invasion they had a falling out and did not speak for some time.
The Voronkovs' son, who also lives in Russia, stopped talking to his parents when he found out what they had done.
Despite these family ties, the couple remains adamant that they will never return to Russia.
"Only if she starts showing some signs of humanity," says Sergey.
"So far, I don't see anything humane there."
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