Ukrainian woman, 98, walks 10 km in slippers to flee Russian bombing
Global News
Lidia Lomikovska got separated from other members of her family, but pressed on with just a cane and piece of wood to support her.
A 98-year-old Ukrainian woman, who was separated from her family during a Russian invasion of her home village, walked 10 kilometres to safety in her slippers with only a cane and splintered piece of wood to support her.
Lidia Lomikovska’s family decided it was time to flee the front-line village of Ocheretyne in a Russian-occupied territory of eastern Ukraine last week after Russian troops entered and fighting intensified.
However, as they began to make their way out of the village, bombing ramped up and Lidia became separated from her son and two daughters-in-law.
Knowing she was in danger, she began to walk west in a pair of blue patterned slippers.
Olha Lomikovska, one of her daughters-in-law, had been injured by shrapnel and the family decided they would take back routes to safety. But Lidia pressed on along the main road.
Describing her journey, the nonagenarian said she fell twice and was forced to stop to rest at some points, even sleeping along the way before waking up and continuing her journey.
“Once I lost balance and fell into weeds. I fell asleep … a little, and continued walking. And then, for the second time, again, I fell. But then I got up and thought to myself: “I need to keep walking, bit by bit,’” Lidia said in an interview posted by the National Police of Donetsk region.