Ukrainian refugees who have been forced to live under Moscow’s jurisdiction are receiving assistance from an odd source: Russian volunteer networks assisting those displaced by the war to exit Russia.

Bogdan Goncharov, his wife, and their 7-year-old daughter fled shelling in their hometown of Mariupol in mid-March and ended up in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine’s south east. Fearing that they would be sent hundreds of kilometers away after hearing that previous refugees had been sent to Siberia, Goncharov said he contacted a Russian volunteer who arranged for them to be driven via Russia to the Estonian border.

“It’s a miracle we survived,” Goncharov, 26, who worked as a construction before the war and is now settling in Sweden, said. “The volunteers are to thank.”

According to nine people who are involved in the loose-knit networks or have received assistance from them, the volunteers provide advice on travel routes as well as help with money, transportation, and accommodation for uprooted Ukrainians like Goncharov who do not want to remain in Russia or Russian-controlled territory.

According to four people active in the networks, many of the networks are operated by Russians or people of Russian descent. Three of them indicated that while the majority of the volunteers are stationed abroad, some Russian nationals remain in their homeland, and many of them work in secret to avoid Russian authorities’ notice.

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