WEBVTT - Made with VTT Creator 00:05.883 --> 00:21.480 position:50% align:middle This happened on January 2, 2024. We were in our bedroom at the time. We were sleeping. We heard shelling, explosions, but we were in bed. 00:21.480 --> 00:37.307 position:50% align:middle And this probably saved our lives, because when the missile fell, the far room was least affected by this explosion; because all the interior doors, all the windows, 00:37.307 --> 00:45.987 position:50% align:middle the glass blew out and all that flew through the apartment. If we were probably here in the kitchen, we wouldn't be alive now. 00:45.987 --> 01:05.361 position:50% align:middle I think so, because the wave was so strong that even our refrigerator was deformed and everything fell. When we jumped up, started getting dressed, we heard smoke coming. 01:05.361 --> 01:18.951 position:50% align:middle The apartment under us was already burning and the smoke started. We started moving from the bedroom along the hall. It was already clogged with debris – doors, furniture, 01:18.951 --> 01:36.541 position:50% align:middle cabinets, some glass, the plaster already fell away. We were moving to the entrance door and were already choking, because there was a lot of smoke. When we reached the door, 01:36.541 --> 01:49.633 position:50% align:middle we grabbed the boots here. My husband didn't even find his boots, he came out right in his slippers. I had already put my shoes on, and we began to open that entrance door. 01:49.633 --> 02:02.590 position:50% align:middle At that moment, they were already blocked by the fallen door, that neighbor's door was iron. And we started pushing it with great force because we had to get out. 02:02.590 --> 02:19.005 position:50% align:middle But, thank God, we pushed. We were out. We ran out here on the stairs and began to move down. I was very worried whether there were stairs so that we could at least go down, 02:19.005 --> 02:28.282 position:50% align:middle because I didn't know if there were stairs, or not, or if everything was already destroyed there. At one point, I had the impression that we would stay there in the apartment, 02:28.282 --> 02:37.852 position:50% align:middle and we would not leave, because, if we choked and the door didn't open, already playing over all the different scenarios, we would stay there. 02:37.852 --> 02:52.067 position:50% align:middle Thank God, we ran downstairs and saw that our entrance, our entrance to the building was destroyed. All the concrete blocks, everything is lying around. 02:52.067 --> 03:08.047 position:50% align:middle And thank God there was a small hole we could fit through, climb over all that. When we got into the yard, there were already cars burning, there was the concrete falling down from the balconies, 03:08.047 --> 03:18.518 position:50% align:middle everything was collapsing, that is, everything looked like some kind of horror movie, apocalypse or something like that. But it was real. 03:18.518 --> 03:32.865 position:50% align:middle "Lena, take the backpack. Lena, take the backpack! Take it! That's it" Hold on. " "Don't remove it." Our car was just standing there, where that heat substation was hit by the missile. 03:32.865 --> 03:43.371 position:50% align:middle It was just… it was a bunch of scrap, that was all. There was no car, there was not even a license plate. And when my colleagues from work came to me later, they asked me how, 03:43.371 --> 03:51.528 position:50% align:middle what, said how they were worried about, I said, "I was just absolutely happy that we came out." We thought that we had lost the apartment. 03:51.528 --> 04:04.149 position:50% align:middle We saw that the apartment downstairs was on fire. We saw that our apartment was already black, burning, that is, the windows were burning, all the walls were already black in flames. 04:04.149 --> 04:20.624 position:50% align:middle But I didn't have any thought of the property, that I had something there. We're out with the "alarm suitcase". We had this suitcase in our front hall, passports, 04:20.624 --> 04:33.196 position:50% align:middle documents for the apartment were packed at a minimum. And so we grabbed it, and it also saved us, because now without documents... you understand what it's like to lose documents. 04:33.196 --> 04:45.548 position:50% align:middle And it saved us that we didn't hesitate, at least we grabbed that suitcase and got out. We got into the apartment in the evening. We thought all day that our apartment was gone, 04:45.548 --> 04:56.710 position:50% align:middle that it had burned out. When the police came in the evening and my husband was able to get into the apartment, it was dark, but he saw that something was there. 04:56.710 --> 05:22.726 position:50% align:middle Not everything burned down. You can see the condition of this apartment. Now it is not subject to accommodation, it is necessary to overhaul it. And the overhaul of the house,but at least somehow. 05:22.726 --> 05:35.619 position:50% align:middle This is impossible to forget, because if a person experiences such a day when his life is completely turned around, and when he realizes the need to start all over again. 05:35.619 --> 05:52.567 position:50% align:middle I have to start over again, as a 56-year-old, that is, I have it all thrown away now, and I have to do everything. What we thought, what we planned, what we wanted were all shattered. 05:52.567 --> 06:16.574 position:50% align:middle Now at least restore this housing, at least somehow continue to live in own home. What is lost, well, the fact that I've lost something very valuable for me is not about me, it's not about me. 06:16.574 --> 06:30.640 position:50% align:middle My most precious thing is that we survived, we are not maimed, we have arms and legs. I just got hit in the head a little bit, but it's okay, it's just a scratch. 06:30.640 --> 06:40.571 position:50% align:middle That we were able to run to parents, and their windows were salso broken out, they were freezing. Mom is bedridden, she doesn't get up at all. 06:40.571 --> 06:51.978 position:50% align:middle The father is 88 years old, he doesn't leave the apartment. And we are happy that we were able to help them, that my colleagues helped me a lot; they came immediately. 06:51.978 --> 07:07.010 position:50% align:middle Someone brought some film, someone immediately pressed these plates to seal these windows shut. They were with tools at once. These windows were sealed shut there. 07:07.010 --> 07:24.040 position:50% align:middle I [received] such support. Then my co-workers also brought me clothes, because I didn't have clothes, I went out just in a jacket and my pajamas. 07:24.040 --> 07:35.445 position:50% align:middle They took everything, including socks. They dressed me, gave me some water to wash up; at work, you understand, that is a kind of support. 07:35.445 --> 07:44.672 position:50% align:middle And so many people immediately began to call and write: tell them what is needed, tell them what is needed. I can't say what I need. 07:44.672 --> 08:01.659 position:50% align:middle I understand that I have nothing, but I don't know what I need. Well, I'm just happy that I live here, sit here at school, drink hot tea, and that my co-workers and friends came to me, they are nearby. 08:01.659 --> 08:13.452 position:50% align:middle They say... now I'm already crying, they're more like tears of happiness, they say, "Look, we don't understand why you're so cheerful, you're smiling. 08:13.452 --> 08:28.712 position:50% align:middle It seems that this has nothing to do with you." That is, I communicate quite normal, I don't shout, I don't think uh-oh. I was just so happy that we survived, 08:28.712 --> 08:40.304 position:50% align:middle that life goes on, that we cannot afford to lose courage because of what happened. We need to go further, we just need to go through this period calmly, gradually, 08:40.304 --> 08:54.678 position:50% align:middle take some steps, one, two, three steps. What do we need there? Now I need this, now I need that. Then I need to look for housing there, then move somehow, then something else. 08:54.678 --> 09:10.144 position:50% align:middle Well, that is, I need to deal with such small present-day affairs. Well, when you see this human support, that you just neither stay nor sit alone, when no one needs you, 09:10.144 --> 09:26.040 position:50% align:middle and when you see how this society even somehow unites, this, you know, gives some kind of... yes, hope that we will still win with such a people – for sure.