WEBVTT - Made with VTT Creator 00:05.556 --> 00:20.464 position:50% align:middle I am now a pensioner. I worked on the railway; also, we have mine No. 1 in our settlement; I worked there as well. Later, I worked at a collective farm until 00:20.464 --> 00:33.496 position:50% align:middle I retired from it. We experienced the occupation and left it at our own risk. Our friends helped us escape, so to speak, illegally. We drove toward Yehorivka 00:33.496 --> 00:44.825 position:50% align:middle and then turned right. There is a pit there, and we took that road to the village of Prechystivka. We drove very fast and witnessed many horrifying sights: 00:44.825 --> 01:03.307 position:50% align:middle smashed cars and human bodies in the fields. We eventually arrived in Kurakhove and then moved to a small village called Voznesenka, where we lived until August of 2024. 01:03.307 --> 01:20.401 position:50% align:middle After that, when they began attacking Hirnyk from Krasnohorivka, we had to move again, this time to Odesa. We endured a lot during the occupation. I had thought, 01:20.401 --> 01:36.794 position:50% align:middle "It’s just a village; we won’t experience anything like that." It turned out we were right on the front line — Vuhledar was only 2 kilometres away. We could see the 01:36.794 --> 01:51.318 position:50% align:middle bombing of Vuhledar by planes and helicopters and hear the gunfire. Initially, we only heard the sounds, but a fellow villager witnessed it firsthand. 01:51.318 --> 02:05.564 position:50% align:middle The Kashlahach river flows not far from us, and they [the occupiers] were firing at Vuhledar from its bank. They even turned around and shot at our village. We saw it all. 02:05.564 --> 02:16.697 position:50% align:middle At first, when we were occupied, a car would drive around the village regularly in the mornings and evenings, shooting at anything. 02:16.697 --> 02:26.839 position:50% align:middle Eventually, someone must have complained. I don't know, I didn't go anywhere, but there must have been some of their [commanders] in the village. 02:26.839 --> 02:37.500 position:50% align:middle Them they stopped shooting. All we could hear were whistling sounds, drones flying, and the ongoing noise of planes and helicopters — seemingly endless. 02:37.500 --> 02:51.310 position:50% align:middle Then, my husband was wounded. We lived near the river and went the top to call our children who were on the Ukrainian side. My husband was calling them 02:51.310 --> 02:59.664 position:50% align:middle when a shell hit him in the stomach. It was a minor wound, but we were scared and decided to leave. We were offered to go, which prompted our decision to go. 02:59.664 --> 03:11.523 position:50% align:middle Our house in Pavlivka is gone; it has been destroyed. The village itself has also been devastated. They post videos online, and sometimes I don’t even recognize 03:11.523 --> 03:23.879 position:50% align:middle the streets I walked all my life. Our house was burned down. In Voznesenka, we lived in the house of my son-in-law's parents — a nice home. 03:23.879 --> 03:32.215 position:50% align:middle People say that they [the Russians] are good, but there’s nothing good about them. Of course, it depends on people. We tried to treat them normally, 03:32.215 --> 03:42.971 position:50% align:middle but who knows what they’re thinking? People with guns are roaming around. There was an incident where they took a man to the barn to execute him. 03:42.971 --> 03:52.342 position:50% align:middle They saw him making a call. We called from the yard; we had a communication tower in Novoukrainka until they destroyed it. We could call our children from the yard, 03:52.342 --> 03:58.143 position:50% align:middle and later my husband started going to the top to call them. The occupiers noticed he was calling and accused him of ratting them out. 03:58.143 --> 04:12.120 position:50% align:middle But why would he do that if there were drones flying overhead and everything was visible? Thank God they eventually let him go. Although, in one instance, 04:12.120 --> 04:24.849 position:50% align:middle they showed some humanity. They came to us to warn us to leave, [saying], "We feel sorry for you; it will be very hot here." They were walking down the street, 04:24.849 --> 04:37.315 position:50% align:middle and we could see them moving, but we never had any contact with them. At first, when we arrived in Voznesenka from Pavlivka, we thought we would return home. 04:37.315 --> 04:48.488 position:50% align:middle We left with just two bags, believing everything was still there. My husband still regrets that decision. Our dog was left behind; she was tied up, 04:48.488 --> 05:03.755 position:50% align:middle and we couldn’t take her in the car because our neighbours were leaving and took us with them. I still remember Pavlivka and Voznesenka, 05:03.755 --> 05:11.640 position:50% align:middle and it all hurts. At times, it feels like nothing, but other times it washes over me like a wave, engulfing me completely...