WEBVTT - Made with VTT Creator 00:05.404 --> 00:17.077 position:50% align:middle Like most of Mariupol residents, we worked at Azovstal. We had a stable life planned for many years to come. My parents and grandparents worked at Azovstal. 00:17.077 --> 00:28.451 position:50% align:middle Our lives were already planned for many years ahead: children would study, and we would help them. Of course, on February 24, 2022, everything changed dramatically. 00:28.451 --> 00:42.929 position:50% align:middle I have a husband and two sons. The elder son will turn 19 in April, and the younger one is 8 years old. The older one is a student at a university, and the younger one is a third grader. 00:42.929 --> 00:55.408 position:50% align:middle The older one is Vladyslav, and the younger one is Rostyslav. I think we will remember all the episodes that happened after February 24 for the rest of our lives. 00:55.408 --> 01:07.762 position:50% align:middle It all started at five in the morning. We lived on the outskirts of Mariupol, in the Eastern neighborhood, and we were the first to see the explosions and the houses that started burning. 01:07.762 --> 01:18.266 position:50% align:middle By five o’clock in the morning, I had already gotten the children into the car and gone to my parents’ place. We hoped to sit it out in the basement, but it didn’t happen. 01:18.266 --> 01:26.991 position:50% align:middle The most terrible thing for me was the air raids. It was the most terrifying experience for me, as I didn’t see it coming. I was hysterical. 01:26.991 --> 01:39.291 position:50% align:middle Then I pulled myself together and started to act. We moved to another part of the city and stayed in the basement for more than a month. Then, we left. To be honest, 01:39.291 --> 01:46.497 position:50% align:middle this is a very sentimental topic for me. Every New Year without Mariupol brings tears to my eyes. We left everything there. 01:46.497 --> 02:00.817 position:50% align:middle We had a tradition of visiting the Rainbow Park. It was a stunning place, and the Christmas tree was set up there. I can say that it was the most modern park in Ukraine, and it was amazing. 02:00.817 --> 02:11.370 position:50% align:middle We would all go to the park, celebrate the New Year there, and then come home and sit with our kids’ god parents and our parents, and we did it every New Year’s Eve. 02:11.370 --> 02:21.144 position:50% align:middle Our material possessions were not the only thing that was taken away from us – they took our souls, so to speak. We had jobs, we had an apartment, and we raised children. 02:21.144 --> 02:35.289 position:50% align:middle We knew they would have a future, and everything was somehow planned. Now, everything is gone. Our house has practically been destroyed. Our jobs are gone. 02:35.289 --> 02:42.282 position:50% align:middle It goes without saying, there is no Azovstal, so now we have nothing. My whole family worked at Azovstal as railroad workers. 02:42.282 --> 02:53.230 position:50% align:middle The railroad shop at Azovstal was massive, as a metallurgical plant couldn’t operate without it. I would say, it was professional continuity that ran in our family. 02:53.230 --> 03:07.424 position:50% align:middle As a woman, I took a different path. I weighed the cargo that came by rail. I worked in the metrology department at Azovstal. Now we are registered with the I Am Mariupol Center in Vinnytsia, 03:07.424 --> 03:14.073 position:50% align:middle which does a lot for us. If it weren’t for this center, I don’t even know how we would have settled in this city. When we arrived, we were totally confused, 03:14.073 --> 03:23.873 position:50% align:middle and the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation has been supporting us from the very beginning. It has been giving us gifts and organizing activities for us, which is very nice. 03:23.873 --> 03:34.754 position:50% align:middle . This, of course, helps. Maybe in peacetime, it wouldn’t feel that way, although this Foundation was there before. It is very important because we are now so confused, 03:34.754 --> 03:42.783 position:50% align:middle as if we were standing at a crossroads. They give small gifts to children and organize holiday parties. Our children are very... 03:42.783 --> 03:56.386 position:50% align:middle You know, they have been gathered, and they are like a part of Mariupol. This is very important. You know, we have only one dream, which is, of course, to win and to return to Mariupol, 03:56.386 --> 03:08.019 position:50% align:middle and now we just have to believe in the future, to gain strength, and to believe in the future because sometimes we are about to give up, but we know that we cannot afford to give up. 04:08.019 --> 04:20.360 position:50% align:middle I wish myself and the people of Mariupol, all Ukrainians, to just cheer up, look forward to the future, and believe in victory. Everything will be fine, I hope.