‘I Keep Envisioning This Boy’: Story Of Pensioner Who Handed Over Runaway Soldier To Police

The woman cried for the whole night after this.

On Sunday evening, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported: serviceman Aliaksandr Karatkevich, who escaped in a truck from one of the training grounds in the Brest region, was found. The guy, local residents say, was detained in the Lobani village of the Vushachy district. “It was I who called the police,” pensioner Volha Ivanauna cries into the phone. - I really wanted to help him. I feel so sorry for him,” writes tut.by.

Aliaksandr Karatkevich is 19 years old, he is from Rasony. On Saturday morning, the Defense Ministry reported that a conscript had left the landfill while driving a truck. Presumably, the department said, the young man was heading to the place of residence of his girlfriend - to the Polatsk region. In the direction of movement of the car, the “interception” plan was promptly announced. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the car was found on the side of the road in the Vushachy district. The soldier disappeared into the woods near the village of Sarochyna, Vushachy district.

The villages of Sarochyna and Lobani are close to each other. Locals believe that Aliaksandr was driving along the highway not far from them. Apparently, noticing that the police were in Sarochyna, he returned and went along the forest road towards Lobani.

- He went along this road, and the police followed, - says one of the local residents. - On Friday evening, the police came to us, they said that the soldier had left a car near the village and ran away. And then the riot police immediately arrived, went from house to house, to sheds, looking for him.

Lobani is a small village, amongst the forest and swamps.

- Nobody saw where this boy hid. For several days we had both police and soldiers here. They walked, searched, launched the drone, - the interlocutor describes the situation. - That boy sat there hungry for three days. He's not a bandit, I’m so sorry for the child.

On Sunday evening, the interlocutor continues, Aliaksandr came to one of the local women and asked for food. That very local resident's name is Volha Ivanauna, she is 74 years old. All night, the woman says, she did not sleep: “I keep envisioning this boy”.

- It was I who called the police, told about the soldier, - the woman cannot hold back her tears. - Around ten to seven I went to close the chickens, and the cat was with me. We left the house through the entrance hall, and my cat ran into the kitchen. I have a disability, I walk with canes. I put on galoshes by the wall and told her: “Murka, why aren't you going?” And then I open the curtain in order to go further, and there was a soldier with a machine gun. I was so scared, it’s good that my heart is strong.

The soldier, the woman says, went into the house through the back door.

- There is a small corridor leading from our kitchen, and a corner, I leaned on the table there. He quietly, calmly put the machine gun on the sofa, bent over, hugged me and said: “Give me something to eat”. And I said: my dear, go away from here, - Volha Ivanauna recalls. - He came out, I put some bread, which lay on the table, sausages in a bag, and carried out into the yard. He thanked me, and apparently wanted to drink. In the kitchen I had a tank of clean water. He may not have seen it, already in the yard he noticed a cistern with rain water, which was standing under the roof, he kneeled down and began to drink. I can't stand this... I'm so sorry for this boy, so handsome, so tall.

Volha Ivanauna told Aliaksandr that she would not tell anyone about him, but then she nevertheless decided to call the police.

- I feel so sorry for him, maybe he would starve again, who will feed him? - the pensioner cries, explaining her actions. - It's cold outside, and he had very light clothes on.

According to the woman, the soldier entered one of the abandoned houses.

- The house of some locals burned down in December, and they were given a new one. The old house was temporarily occupied by the homeless, so as to say. He went there, to warm up on the furnace, - Mrs. Volha recalls, adding that after her call “the police came and found him”.

- What condition was the soldier in?

- I did not speak with him, but he was scared, such a cute little boy. Whenever I recall him, there are tears in my eyes, - the woman seems worried. - I did not sleep tonight, the blood pressure rose, they called an ambulance. I can’t stand it, I feel so sorry for him.

The Ministry of Defense previously reported: Aliaksandr Karatkevich has had no reprimands during his service, he is characterized positively in the military unit.