Their love story was only a month old when the Russian Army smashed its way into their home city of Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, two years ago and tore them apart.

Sofia Malina fled with her mother and grandfather to a cottage on the outskirts of the city and eventually managed to escape to Germany. Her soul mate, Polina Muzhychkova, hid with her parents in basements through weeks of bombardment and then fled with her mother to the Crimean Peninsula, a part of Ukraine annexed by Russia 10 years ago.

The two women — Ms. Malina was 19 at the time, Ms. Muzhychkova 17 — survived the terrifying violence of the Russian invasion, but ended up on opposite sides of the front line. It took two years, careful planning and huge leaps of faith for them to find a way to be together again.

Ms. Malina, a pro-Ukraine L.G.B.T.Q. activist, traveled back into Russia and then Crimea, where she reunited with Ms. Muzhychkova. Together, they planned their escape for a year from what was a repressive and intolerant Russian-controlled society. In April they fled through Russia and crossed into Ukraine, planning eventually to make their way to Germany.

They arrived late one night with their cat, Ozzy, at a Ukrainian police post in the eastern city of Sumy, nervous and exhausted and complaining that the Russian police at the border crossing had physically abused them.

“They grabbed me by the hair and punched me in the face,” Ms. Malina said.