Pavlo Derhachov

"My house burned down, only my pension certificate and passport remained"

Our village of Verkhnyotoretske is a hot spot near Yasynuvata. After two years of regular shelling, people here were left without a roof over their heads. My house burned down to the ground. All I have left is my pension card and passport. The house burned to the ground.

International organizations helped with building materials and money to restore the house. I received 6000 UAH, but I can't build a house with that money. I am 88 years old. I go to the village council and ask that I rebuild the destroyed housing.

Apart from me, there are 184 partial destructions in Verkhnyotoretske that need to be restored. And the houses on the contact line that have been completely destroyed cannot be repaired. It is too dangerous.
I moved into my father's house. Since I was born here, I will live out my days here.

There is only one warm room in a large room. Heating other rooms is too expensive. I don't have enough coil for that. There is no gas, and we had to wash clothes in rainwater.

Here is the place where I sleep and here is the place where I almost died from the shelling. Then the whole house was shaking, and the ceiling collapsed on me. Thus, we had some damages here.

When quoting a story, a reference to the source – the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation – is mandatory, as follows:

The Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/