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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Elvia Malagón

After fleeing Russia over war in Ukraine, Chicago family joins asylum-seekers in legal limbo

Aleksei Eremenko and his family fled Russia and moved to the United States to avoid his conscription into the Russian military to fight in Ukraine. At the kitchen table at their South Side home (from left) are Avrora Butenko, 1, Marina Butenko, Vasilisa Butenko, 7, and Eremenko. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere / Sun-Times)

After Russian officials announced a military draft to bolster their efforts in the war against Ukraine, Aleksei Eremenko drove through the night to reach Kazakhstan.

His wife and children joined him about a week later. The family thought they could rebuild their lives in the country that was once part of the Soviet Union.

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