Valeri Ivanovich Zgola and his sons, Maxim and Vladislav, miraculously got out of Russia in late
September 2022 then criss-crossed the globe searching for refuge. After months of traveling,
they finally landed at the U.S. border with Mexico where they lived for two-and-a-half months in
a Tijuana Catholic Church, seeking political asylum in America.

On February 24, 2022, when Vladimir Putin announced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Valeri
Ivanovich Zgola, his wife and two sons were at home in Vartemyagi, a city just north of St.
Petersburg, roughly 100 miles south east of the Finnish border. The family, like many around the
world, was shocked at Putin’s brazen call for war against a neighboring sovereign nation.

Ivanovich immediately considered the operation unfair and unjustified, and but one more greed
and ego-driven endeavor at the hands of Putin and his regime. Ivanovich and his family, like
many Russians, have and maintain significant ties to Ukraine. Ivanovich’s grandmother, Zgola
Galina Savelievna, is Ukranian, while his son’s fiancé, Anna, who currently lives with the
family in Vartemyagi, is originally from Zaporizhia City, Ukraine. Though Russian by
citizenship, the Ivanovich family revers Ukrainians as fraternal people.

Moved by the violence and injustice, Valeri Ivanovich Zgola took to social media and shared his
outrage. On March 5 he signed an online petition opposing the war at change.org, then posted it
with an invitation for others to sign on his social media, Facebook and Russian platform, VK.

When Ivanovich learned of the systematic execution of civilians in Bucha on April 4, 2022, he
alone went out into his neighborhood holding a banner in the street in front of his house: PEACE
FOR UKRAINE. He took a photo of that banner and shared that across his social media, not knowing then the full repercussions of how those acts would inevitably catch the attention of Russian
intelligence officials.

The violence that Ivanovich was protesting was particularly brutal. On April 4, Russian forces
went door-to door in Bucha, Ukraine, hunting down volunteer opposition fighters, civilians
suspected of helping Ukrainian troops and anyone considered a threat to the Russian mission of
dominance. These Ukrainians were brutally tortured and executed. To date, only 40 bodies have
been recovered from this cleansing operation, while hundreds remain unaccounted for.

This tactic would be repeated throughout Ukraine in the days and months to come.

“Putin has plundered the whole country of Ukraine with the help of his friends the oligarchs.
Now he is stealing the lives of our loved ones, sending them to this slaughterhouse,” emphasized
Ivanovich. “Putin fears to lose power, in this regard, and instead ruins thousands of people’s
souls, dozens killed or forever crippled. It is obvious that Putin does not care about them. He
does not regret the suspicions against him and seeks only exceptionally sharp ambition and
gain.”

In early September 2022, the Ivanovich family planned to purchase a car in Belarus then go on
vacation together. But Ivanovich’s mother-in-law became ill, and his wife stayed home to care
for her. His son’s fiancé, Anna, also couldn’t travel. As a Ukrainian, leaving Russia meant it’d
be impossible for her to return. Both women stayed home in Vartemyagi while Valeri Ivanovich and his two sons traveled to Belarus to buy a new car for the family.

Once in Belarus, though, the options for purchase were slim, and overnight accommodations
slimmer still due to most places primarily offered as long-term rentals due to the influx of war
immigrants. Ivanovich and his sons paid inflated prices to stay one night in Minsk then returned
to Vartemyagi without a new vehicle but planned to return later in the month to try again.

On September 21, 2022, Putin announced a nation-wide conscription and that all men aged 18 to 60 could be drafted into the Russian military at anytime.

“A large-scale mobilization was suddenly happening all over the country, and I was very worried
that my sons could be mobilized,” recalled Ivanovich. “My conscience could not allow me to send
them to this war that was unleashed by Putin. They also could not even imagine holding guns in
their hands to kill innocent people. This is not the same as defending your homeland. This is
protecting Putin from dying for his strategic miscalculations and failures at war.”

The next day, Ivanovich gathered his sons, returning once more to Belarus intent on a car
purchase and exploring options for leaving Russia. Once more, they encountered difficulty
finding a place to stay, finally settling on a month-long rental.

On September 23, while in Minsk, Ivanovich received a phone call from his wife that a woman from the Russian military had come to their home inquiring after all three of the Ivanovich men.
Luckily, they were in Minsk. But the military representative attempted to leave a summons of
military duty for Ivanovich and his sons. His wife refused to take it.

The family now knew the threat of being actively coerced into Putin’s war was square in front of
them. They would have to act swiftly in developing a plan of action.

The next day, the same woman from the military returned, this time accompanied by two law
enforcement officers who sharply insisted on speaking with Ivanovich and his sons. They tried to
enter the house, but Ivanovich’s wife knew they couldn’t do so without a warrant. And then the
officers began threatening her, that if they didn’t come out immediately, Ivanovich and his sons
would face criminal liability for discrediting the Russian army because of his social media
posts a few months prior.

The officers intoned that the three men were on a “black list” and would be tracked down and
sentenced to prison if they didn’t comply with the military orders.

Mrs. Ivanovich stood her ground and offered no information about where her husband and two sons were.

“After all that happened, it was clear that the decision to leave Russian was the right one,”
reflected Ivonovich. “That same day, September 24, my sons and I went to a travel agency where
we had tickets once booked to Dubai as part of our original family vacation, and we used those
credits to begin our journey out of Russia. It all happened so fast, and was terrifying. Our
biggest fear was not getting out of the country.”

Without saying goodbye to his wife, and without the boys saying goodbye to their mother, they
left Russia and began their long journey to the United States.

From Belarus they first traveled to Dubai where they stayed two weeks putting the next pieces
into place. From there, the trio flew to Amsterdam then on to Cancun, Mexico. Two months later
they arrived in Tijuana at the U.S. / Mexico border. There, the three men stayed in a Catholic
Church for two-and-a-half months while they sought help for political asylum in America.

“We are grateful to be here. Being in America I can express my opinion on everything that is
happening in Russia and with Ukraine,” emphasized Ivanovich. “In this regard, this is why we
must stay here. Imprisonment and political repressions await us if we return to our homeland.
The importance of the moment we are living in shouldn’t be underestimated. Russia began the war
and invaded an independent country, Ukraine. They arrest government opposition and give long
jail sentences to those who disagree. On the basis of all these facts, my sons and I ask for
political asylum from the authorities of the United States. We feel safe here and are so
fortunate to be here with our lives.”

From Russia to the United States, Valeri Ivanovich Zgola and his sons undertook a months-long
escape from their homeland, or else risk imprisonment and conscription into the Russian army.