Diana Diadyk

"We were about to have dinner when a shell hit the house five minutes later"

In 2014, when I and my parents returned from vacation, the hostilities had already begun. For the first two months, we lived in a village near Donetsk which was one of the main fighting fields. We often hid in the basement. My sister and I were very afraid that they would get into our house.

Once the bombardment did not stop for the whole day. In the evening, my family and I were about to have dinner when a shell hit the house five minutes late on a nearby street. At that moment, I was so scared that I my heart started beating very rapidly.

In 2015, we moved into Mariupol and began to live in peace. We even got a cat in the summer. A little later, the bombing started in Skhidnyi District – we were very scared again and hid in the bathroom for about an hour.

In 2015, I celebrated my first birthday with my friends. It was the best day in the last two years.

2016 was very quiet and peaceful. And in 2017, my mother suggested to visit the camp sponsored by the Let Us Help Foundation. At first I didn't want to go. I thought I would miss my friends. When my mother said that I was going, I was a little upset. However, I really liked it there.

I took a break from the hustle and returned home with renewed vigour.

This year I was very happy to go to the camp again. It was sponsored by the Foundation again. I am very grateful that there are such people who help in difficult moments.

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/