[imagesource:wonder]

In a story with Netflix Limited Series written all over it, a network of chess friends helped a Ukrainian chess protege escape from a Russian invasion of her hometown, and bring her to safety in England.

Kamila Hryshchenko managed to escape the chaotic first day of the Russian invasion and now lives in Hull, England. She now plays chess for the England national team as one of the top-ranked players. In a strange bit of irony, the top spot is currently held by a Russian.

When Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine in 2022, Kamila’s home city of Kramatorsk was being bombarded with missiles and gunfire. The early days of the invasion were chaotic and dangerous, trapping many of the city’s residents in their homes.

“I wanted to leave, but we didn’t know what was going on or where the Russian soldiers were,” Kamila explained to Sky News.

Kamila decided to reach out to her friends in the chess community and contacted Andrei Ciuravin, a Ukrainian who was living in the UK. Ciuravin immediately began working on a plan to get her out.

“Chess is a family, especially in these hard times. We knew our world chess family was going to help us.”

Kamila fled along with her mother on a train from  Kramatorsk in the east of Ukraine, to Chernivtsi on the western border along Romania. On the way, the train had to stop several times as the threat of bombs and blocked routes was relayed to the conductor by the military.

Once in Romania, friends in the Romanian Chess Federation housed Kamila and her mother in a hotel and assisted them in getting UK visas. As Kamila puts it, “Everything was connected with chess.”

One month after leaving Kramatorsk, they arrived in England and were immediately taken in by a group of chess players from Chichester, until they eventually moved to their own, new, home in Hull.

“Chess saved my life,” Kamila Hryshchenko was forced to leave her home in Kramatorsk – she now lives in Hull after an international network of chess players helped whisk her and her mother to safety… An amazing news item from @SkyNews & @MikeRDrummond https://t.co/yIM0GNj6PL

— ECF (@ecfchess) November 10, 2023

Kamlia says her decision to change her chess fealty from Ukraine to England did not come easily.

“It was a very hard decision for me. It was so personal because of Ukraine and the war, and I want to support my country. When I changed federation I thought it’s better for my chess career and I can pay back lots of English people for their support here, supporting my chess.”

“We still support Ukraine,” she adds. “For me it’s better to help physically by fundraising and volunteering than just to have a flag next to my name.”

While Kamila and her mother now spend much of their time doing fundraising for Ukraine, she also studies computer science at the University of Hull and continues to play chess.

Mini-series gold.

[source:sky]