WEBVTT - Made with VTT Creator 00:00.000 --> 00:23.168 position:50% align:middle You know, now the weather is almost the only factor that supports you against this background, and you wait for the appearance of young leaves until these leaves fall to dust. Spring is already in full swing. 00:23.168 --> 00:40.980 position:50% align:middle Yes, spring is like this: colourful and blooming. Rich colours. Did you also have such thoughts that it would rather be spring? Yeah, sure. This year, February was very frosty, so we would like it to be spring soon, everyone wanted warmth. 00:40.980 --> 00:53.029 position:50% align:middle You haven't left Ukraine, have you been here all the time? Yes, we stayed in Ukraine. What supports you first and foremost right now, Natalia? 00:53.029 --> 01:15.633 position:50% align:middle To a certain extent – good books, good relationships, of course. At work always... As they say, you come and immerse yourself in work, and walk in the evening, and it occurs to you that I'm already going home. It is diverse. 01:15.633 --> 01:36.293 position:50% align:middle The territory of Ukraine is large, so on the one part the heat sets in, on the other part the cold recedes, on the one part the front is approaching, so the weather is different. Our territory may be... If you break down 5 degrees of gradation, 01:36.293 --> 01:51.210 position:50% align:middle then this is 4-5 gradations to understand the entire temperature regime in the territory of Ukraine and in all its regions. So the work is very inspiring. There is a certain excitement. 01:51.210 --> 02:13.754 position:50% align:middle So you're immersed in your work and that's how you're holding on now? This is your personal life hack, your wisdom? Still, Natalia, if you will excuse me, if you please, the most difficult moment for you during these more than 3 years of war? 02:13.754 --> 02:36.661 position:50% align:middle It was the beginning of the war. I am from Bucha, and in the first days of the war, until 12 hours on 24 February, everything was calm. And we thought about leaving. I also thought that I would probably go to work tomorrow after all. Active actions. 02:36.661 --> 03:03.198 position:50% align:middle Although it was strange: there is an airfield near us in Hostomel, but we were still quiet. And at 12 p.m. on the 24th, the assault began, and Bucha felt it. Both the bombing and the offensive began, and so we went down to the basement of our house. 03:03.198 --> 03:25.032 position:50% align:middle We sat there for 3 days. On the night of the 25th, our neighbour came with such an announcement that there is already fighting in Kyiv, Kyiv is on fire, Kyiv is burning. My daughter fell asleep, and I ran to the 9th floor of the apartment, because I had the radio on. 03:25.032 --> 03:40.608 position:50% align:middle I ran because I still wanted to hear some news. I went into the apartment, the radio works there, and they say that there are different groups of DRG, that they are being knocked out, that they were moving along Beresteiskyi Avenue. 03:40.608 --> 04:11.829 position:50% align:middle But it was what the announcers said on the radio and the fact they worked inspired me, because Kyiv standed still. Of course, I didn't believe in [bad]. I ran to find confirmation that it couldn't be, just couldn't be. We left, broke out on the 26th, 04:11.829 --> 04:30.189 position:50% align:middle although I was told that they [the invaders] were already on the outskirts and were approaching. My brother drove in from Irpin along our Vokzalna Street and picked us up. And on the 27th, this column, which was moving almost in the centre of Bucha... 04:30.189 --> 04:46.160 position:50% align:middle Vokzalna Street goes all the way from Hostomel through Bucha to Irpin. We were moving, and they [the Russians] had already been defeated. That is, if we hadn't left on the 26th, if he [my brother] hadn't arrived... Although I asked him not to go. 04:46.160 --> 05:07.795 position:50% align:middle I said I didn't know how they'd let him through. And he was indeed stopped in Irpin and not allowed to go to Bucha, but he begged, and so he picked us up and we left Bucha. Of course, this is scary. 05:07.795 --> 05:20.514 position:50% align:middle I even feel sorry for the streets they drove and scratched with their tanks, not to mention what the houses were like when we got back. As for people, this is very tragic… 05:20.514 --> 05:40.676 position:50% align:middle Yes, a bright memory... A moment that, despite all this horror, you now remember with warmth and a smile. Is there such a moment? 05:40.676 --> 06:07.259 position:50% align:middle Of course, there are such moments. That we're alive. We left with our cat, although my colleague told me: "I was afraid to ask if you took the cat with you," and I replied that, of course, my child was ready to throw all the things that we had with us, but take the cat. 06:07.259 --> 06:15.590 position:50% align:middle What's its name? Bucks. He's a redhead, but Bucks. Still with you? 06:15.590 --> 06:35.959 position:50% align:middle Yes, it supports us to a certain extent. You focus on it, and thus bring yourself out [of the negative]. It can be hard, but you set yourself up to continue to go to victory and work for victory. 06:38.989 --> 07:00.532 position:50% align:middle Every such story is a pain that we must remember. Pain that the world should know about and also remember. These stories should be recorded so that they will later become additional evidence during the trial in the Hague 07:00.532 --> 07:21.070 position:50% align:middle against Russia regarding crimes that it still commits in the territory of independent Ukraine. This story will definitely be included in the world's largest archive of testimonies of civilian Ukrainians affected by the war, the "Civil Voices" 07:21.070 --> 07:42.840 position:50% align:middle Museum of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. If you also have such a story and are ready to share it, or the story of your loved ones or relatives, you may contact the Museum's website or call the toll-free hotline at 0800509001.