The northern border of the park runs through the state border with Russia. And so, during the full-scale invasion of the Russian troops, it was occupied from the very first days. In September, when the Ukrainian army drove the Russians out of the Kharkiv region, it also liberated the territory of the park.

We spoke with Volodymyr Kletyonkin, head of the science department of Dvorichansky National Park, about how the past 7 months have been for the park and its staff. Even during the occupation, scientists continued to work.

Date must be written

Nature continues to live despite the bombardment and occupation. And therefore, scientists also continue to work: they observe, analyze, record processes – they constantly write their chronicles.

Therefore, the staff worked while the science department was on the territory of the park. Volodymyr says that when leaving the territory of the park, he and his colleague already knew when the convoys were leaving, where the patrols and barricades were.

As the helicopters flew, they hid like rabbits in the bushes, so as not to arouse suspicion and the desire to pull the trigger, shoot with a machine gun or launch rockets,
– He remembers Volodymyr.

Knowing that the Russians could chase people from the sky with helicopters, the scientists tried to stay out of their sight. They worked in the field, made phenological observations – the analysis of natural phenomena associated with seasonal changes in climatic conditions.

“We were at work, getting paid, then we collected field material from entomology (the science that studies insects – channel 24). My colleague also knows botany well, so he did botanical studies as well. History has to be there, albeit a truncated form,” said the head of the scientific department .

Park, on the border with Russia / Screenshot “Wikipedia”

How did the park workers experience the occupation?

Currently, there are no scientists on the territory of the park: in some places hostilities continue, the land is mined. Some workers remained in place during the occupation; The science department, headed by Volodymyr, along with the administration, finance and economics department, and investigators were evacuated in mid-September, when the shelling began.

Volunteers helped the scientists go. Currently, an employee of the park may be several more in the occupied territory in the village of Dvorichna, on the left bank of the Oskil River.

During the occupation, the employees decided to appear in the office as rarely as possible in order to avoid the Russians. As long as there was communication, business problems were resolved over the phone, then they cycled to each other.

In the first months, the occupiers did not care about the park. When they formed a collaborative government, they reached it too: they began demanding founding documents. Some of the employees were evacuated at the time, so the park said people took the documents with them. Volodymyr recalls:

“Then they (Russians – Channel 24) were very busy with training and security forces, so they said it’s not time yet, the park will wait. Thank God it hasn’t gotten to that point,” the reporter said.

Territory occupied but dangerous

The losses of the park do not count now: it is too early and dangerous. In the first month after the occupation, the Russians took the park’s official car, hunted game and demolished the administration building in September.

On the territory of the park, especially in the valley of the Oskil River and on the chalk slopes, scientists did not record any damage. However, they did not manage to circumnavigate the entire territory of the park:

• firstly, the Russians forbade visiting the forests;
• secondly, the area above Kamianka was extremely dangerous due to the concentration of invaders – after all, the Russian border is only 10 kilometers from there.

Before hostilities began, the science department worked at its own peril and risk. They walked where it was safe and on the footpaths of fearless fishermen.
– stated the scientist.

Settlements close to the park – Kamianka, Dvorichna – were badly affected by air raids and artillery shells. What is the current situation there, known from isolated reports: the connection is currently unstable.

Due to the constant shelling, people were evacuated en masse; outside populated areas, the danger is even greater, and therefore it is difficult to imagine the state of affairs in the park. Moreover: there is no talk of exploring the area in the near future.

Fortunately, Volodymyr and most of his colleagues managed to get to the territory controlled by Ukraine. We wish the damage to the park to be repaired as soon as possible. We believe in the Armed Forces and expect good news from the front!

Author: Anastasia Serikova

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