WHEN SOLDIERS RUSSIAN opened fire on our car, I thought we were dead. It was March 4, 2022, eight days into the invasion of Ukraine. My wife and I had hurriedly packed all our valuables that could fit in one suitcase and a couple of carry-ons.
We hired a driver, thinking we could make it to the train station in Irpin, a village outside of Kyiv that we had fled to after the war began. Nearly as soon as we pulled away from the rural farmhouse where we were staying, we ran into Russian armoured vehicles.
"Go back, go back!" my wife screamed.
The driver frantically tried to reverse. It was too late. Russian infantrymen began spraying our Toyota Camry with automatic weapons fire and chasing after us. As I ducked behind the driver's seat, I could hear the glass shattering into a million pieces as the bullets struck the windows.
Somehow we managed to jump out of the moving car, hop over a fence and take cover behind a bright blue port-a-potty. Our bullet-riddled Camry careened down an incline and smashed into a fence. It was a complete wreck.
"Come out from behind there!" yelled a Russian soldier. We stepped out from our hiding place, hands raised, explaining we were unarmed civilians on our way to a train station. The Russian soldiers approached and pointed rifles in our faces.
THE STORY OF OUR CAPTURE started with a miscalculation. "There will not be a war." I heard that phrase over and over in Kyiv. My wife, Iryna Samsonenko, and I had been living in Ukraine for 21 years. I worked as a military affairs and Russian political analyst, and as a consultant to the aerospace industry. Putin threatening Ukraine was a movie we had seen many times, and I assumed the saber-rattling was just that and nothing more.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2024-Ausgabe von Reader's Digest Canada.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 2024-Ausgabe von Reader's Digest Canada.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
YOUR ICON OF ICONS: CHEVROLET CORVETTE
Was there ever any doubt? MotorTrend readers are largely American, and as much as we love Jeeps, Mustangs, and F-150s in this country, the Corvette has been “America’s sports car” for nearly as long as this publication has existed. That’s why you chose it via our online vote as the most iconic car of the past 75 years.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD
When Chevrolet unveiled its all-new 2020 Silverado HD lineup, it set the truck world ablaze, and not in a good way.
2023 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RS FIRST TEST
PORSCHE'S MOST FOCUSED 911 OF ALL TIME MUST BE EXPERIENCED AT ITS LIMITS TO BE UNDERSTOOD
BAVARIAN ECONS 2002te
THIS ELECTRIC BMW RESTOMOD LOSES ITS ENGINE BUT NOT ITS SOUL
MOTORTREND CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
The 10 Most Iconic Vehicles of Our Time and Much More
2024 TRUCK OF THE YEAR MADE IN MICHIGAN
AFTER DECADES IN THE WEST, TRUCK OF THE YEAR MOVES TO MICHIGAN
HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE THE 80?!
THE FIRST-GENERATION NISSAN PATHFINDER IS AN SUV THROWBACK TO A TOTALLY RAD TIME, FOR SURE
THE CHEVROLET COLORADO IS THE 2024 MOTORTREND TRUCK OF THE YEAR
A BROAD LINEUP DELIVERS AN IMPRESSIVE RANGE OF OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE TO EVERYDAY LIVABILITY
2023 Ford F-Series Super Duty
The heavy-duty truck world moves more slowly than other pickup classes, and progress comes in spurts. Take the Ford F-Series Super Duty, whose recent refresh included softer-edged styling, a new entry-level gas-fed V-8, a new high-output 6.7-liter turbodiesel V-8, and myriad small improvements like new bedside steps. Is it still basically the same truck as before? Absolutely, but it’s also a better Super Duty, however incrementally.
2023 GMC Canyon
MC, the luxe-truck division of General Motors, has long struggled to differentiate its products from mechanically similar Chevrolets.
THE GAS ERA LIVES ON
These vintage race cars chart the evolution of technology in the early days of drag racing.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
THE PRO STREET ERA PEAKED IN THE '80S. ARE WE IN THE BEGINNING OF A RESURGENCE?
SWEET ASPIRATIONS
Jerry and Matthew Sweet added an 800ci Pro Stock mountain motor to chase HOT ROD Drag Week's Pro Street NA Record.
ART PROJECT
This Rad Rides by Troy-built '63 split-window Corvette went from restaurant prop to ripping up the street!
MOTOR HEAD FOR LIFE
Scott Sullivan is one of the original Pro Street pioneers. He still builds cars today out of a small shop in Dayton, Ohio.
What Is Pro Street?
You know it when you see it.
Pro Street in Pure Vision
Builder Steve Strope weighs in on the Pro Street look and what he would build today.
BRINGING BACK PRO STREET!
David Freiburger and Roadkill Garage built a Pro Street Nova.
Making Bad Decisions Badder
Bradley Gray's 1970 Nova is a Hybrid! It's a streetable Funny Car.
Chasing Pleasure in Portugal
Called across the sea, a consummate host considers her true calling
whole hog goes global in texas
Two pitmasters from unlikely origins are spreading a new kind of barbecue gospel-from the Carolinas to Texas
HAWK
A One-of-a-Kind Tundra Prerunner Built for Multiple Needs
Port Side
Find neighborhood charm, nautical history, and an artistic streak in Norfolk, Virginia
WHY AREN'T WE EATING MORE WILD-CAUGHT SHRIMP?
Americans are eating more shrimp than ever, up to 5 pounds per capita per year—but it’s not the shrimp most of them think they’re eating
THE BAY AREA SEQUOIA
An Inside Look at This Family Friendly Off-Road Rig
THE TOYOTAS OF KING OF THE HAMMERS
Two Weeks of Racing and Playing
MAMBA MENTALITY
Cecil Sebastian 2020 Toyota 4Runner
NEW YEAR, NEW RIG
Ring in 2024 with Rugged Products for your Toyota
Dinner Party Dining
This Charleston restaurant takes a new approach to the chef's tasting menu
Core of the Matter
Peeling back the layers of history gives this Mississippi café owner his purpose