Larysa Navrotska delivers mail, retirement checks, groceries, medicines, and news to remote Ukrainian villages near the battlefield. Her work for the national postal service requires entering dangerous frontline areas where drones are common and where delivery vehicles are targeted. Russian attacks have damaged or destroyed hundreds of Ukrainian post offices, and delivery trucks are also hit because they carry items such as drone parts to troops. At least nine postal workers have been killed while working. Larysa and her driver typically serve about 6,500 people per month, visiting multiple villages and providing a familiar presence for isolated retirees. She has worked at the same local post office since seeking employment after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
"Larysa Navrotska risks her life to deliver mail, retirement checks and medicine to remote Ukrainian communities under the constant threat of Russian drones from the nearby front line. Her service has become even more crucial than it was before the war. Larysa Navrotska is part of a quiet, but brave army of postal workers connecting remote Ukrainian communities close to the battlefield with the outside world."
"Working for the national postal service in eastern Ukraine often means entering dangerous frontline areas where drones dominate and cause the vast majority of this war's casualties. Theirs is a dangerous job. In four years of war, Russian attacks have damaged or completely destroyed more than 500 Ukrainian post offices. Ukrposhta says delivery trucks like Larysa's are also targeted because they carry things such as drone parts to frontline troops."
"Larysa and her driver, Vitalii, typically serve roughly 6,500 people each month. Today, they are visiting three villages. Their most loyal customers are retirees awaiting their monthly check. Larysa delivers more than just mail. She brings income and also groceries, medicines, the news and a familiar face to chat with for those living in isolation."
"This hub in Larysa's hometown is the last brick-and-mortar postal branch on the road to the front. When jobs were scarce after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Larysa came to this very post office hoping to find work. Now married and with a son, she's remained in Vasylkivka, doing nearly every postal job there is courier, clerk, cashier, and unofficially, the office cheerleader, keeping up morale."
Read at www.nytimes.com
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