An American teacher in Ukraine, who spent 8 months hiding from Russian secret police, pretended to be an Irishman and said he only escaped because 'they weren't the cleverest people in the world'

View of a house damaged during the fighting of a recently liberated village, outskirts of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.

Bernat Armangue/Associated Press

• An American teacher recounted his eight months hiding in Kherson to The New York Times.
• Timothy Morales told secret police he was an Irishman named Timothy Joseph when he was questioned.
• Morales said he only escaped because the FSB officers weren't very competent.

An American teacher who successfully avoided detection for eight months in the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson said he only escaped because the Russian forces were not the best and brightest.

Timothy Morales, who taught English in Ukraine prior to the invasion, shared his story with The New York Times about going into hiding for fear of what the Russians would do with an American.

Kherson was the first major city captured by Russia, taken in the early days of the war. Officials ordered a retreat from the city earlier this month, marking one of the biggest setbacks yet for Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces reentered the city last week after Russia completed its retreat.

Morales told the Times he hid from Russian soldiers and secret police, including the KGB successor agency FSB, during the entire occupation. He largely stayed indoors, walking between his apartment and that of his ex-wife's, and for the first couple of months never went further than a nearby walled-off courtyard.

In September, many months into hiding, an FSB patrol showed up to question him, Morales told the Times. Speaking in his imperfect Russian, he said his name was Timothy Joseph and that he was Irish, but had lost his passport. A neighbor even backed his story to the officers.

"That sort of changed my perspective," Morales told the Times. "Before, I was careful. Then I became paranoid."

He described the interaction with the FSB as "the highlight, or the lowlight" of his experience in hiding, and added that he thought he only escaped because "they weren't the cleverest people in the world."

Morales also said he watched as the Russian soldiers become increasingly "scruffier and more hodgepodge" leading up to the retreat. He celebrated the retreat but said he now planned to leave the city.

Investigators have found signs of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Kherson, part of a disturbing pattern of discoveries that follow the retreat of Russian forces.

Despite Russia's attempts to absorb Kherson by forcing residents to speak Russian and banning Ukrainian national songs, resistance remained, and the retreat of Russian forces sparked celebrations in the streets.

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