The war in Donbass had changed millions of lives. Destroyed families, damaged homes and orphans... All of those problems appeared immediately. Only in such crisis situations we suggest how important is to receive the external assistance and support from various foundations. When you are in need, you want somebody to lend a hand. Rinat Akhmetov Foundation became such helping hand for us.
The war in Donbas began for me in 2014. In fact, from the first hostilities. During all that time I was here, at this territory. I saw all the bombings. And I had a grandma who witnessed the whole of war. She was 101 years old. Of course, we couldn't leave her. By the way, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation took care of her. They also came home to her to wish her happy birthday. At her 100th birthday she was interviewed in the film about her biography and her life...
From the beginning of the war (2014) I volunteered for the Children of War Foundation. The first person who helped us was Rinat Akhmetov. I gave out these staple boxes to many of Donbas residents. We gave all of that foodstuff and basic necessities to all people in need, especially disabled ones. As a volunteer I was taking care of a woman, who was sick in bed. And I brought regularу food for her and her son all the time. You see, her son was disabled from childhood. And they, of course, could not escape the shelling. They were continuously shelled, the windows of their apartments were knocked out... I helped them all the time. Well, I also volunteered in all the foundations, which gave the assistance to people in need. For example, I was in the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, handing out a big number of food packages. My grandma also received a food assistance from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation during all the war. She died at the age of 101.
Of course, I have witnessed the war in Donbas. I got through it by myself.
I still remember Friday 13th, 2014. Our entire city was shelled.
We were visiting my grandma. You see, my house is next to hers. I live on the 8th floor, and she lives on the 2nd floor of a house nearby. We supposed to be safe there. But something terrible has happened. An anti-aircraft round hit the 14-storeys building in front of my grandmother's five-story apartment building. The kindergarten near our house was attacked too. All of windows and doors were broken. Even a balcony...
Thanks god, no one was hurt or killed.
My son (35 years old) was spending his free time with us. He reassessed the situation very quickly. He grabbed his nephew and immediately carried him to the bathroom. Then he also did the same to my grandmother. Of course, I ran after them. And we were hiding there. Then we went down to the basement. There was no light or gas. All of supply systems were destroyed. That is why my son brought a propane burner. And after that we tried to cook. Of course, I was always trying to keep my grandma well-feed, so I was cooking for her and feeding her notwithstanding the cross fire. In fact, every day we were under the fire, so periodically we went down to the basement.
You see, I also worked at the Vuglegirska TPP.
. It was particularly difficult to get out from the cross fire. Especially on our way home from work.
At the Vuglegirska TPP the rails were broken, there were no wagons with coal. Our boss didn’t want us to go home from work. We were supposed to be there, at Vuglegirska TPP, fleeing from shelling of the town. All of us felt unsafe. We needed pills to be able to work because of all those rocket artillery shelling. And it was not possible even to have a rest at home.
At that time an artillery shell struck my dad's garage. It was destroyed. Scooter, bicycles were also broken down... And then we had to restore all of those stuff. Nobody helped us financially in that situation. We used to live under the shelling. It was time to plant our vegetable garden. Me and my son were planting tomatoes. As we did it there was firing over our heads and at our feet....
But even now we don’t feel safe. Because you don't know what to expect. I still remember how in 2016 or 2017 a shell hit the school. At that moment the children were studying there. Many of them were injured by the bullets and shrapnel, they were very scared.
We thought that everything was quiet and peaceful. But… You see, even now we don’t feel safe.
All I'm dreaming about is peace and better life for all of our people. Since the war began our life has changed very much... The prices have increased. And it's a big problem with employment in Donbas region. Also domestic living conditions have deteriorated... Everything is broken. Everything must be restored by ourselves. The windows in our apartments were broken too. Of course, if apartments, houses or garages were severely damaged, people were helped to restore them. But we repaired everything by ourselves. Even if you want to buy scooter or bicycle - you also need finances (we had two bicycles: our nephew's and ours). To restore our garage, we had to buy all used materials. But it still took a lot of money. We thought that our authorities will finance that that restoration. But they didn’t... People think that the garage is not as important as apartment. But 42 private garages were broken... And nobody helped us to restore all of that property. We applied to the Norwegian Court and to different foundations. But we think it's no use...
Thanks god at the beginning of 2014 we received a humanitarian assistance from Rinat Akhmetov's Foundation.
And when everything around was smashed, his foundation helped us with food.
Other funds also were supporting millions of Donbas residents. For example, through the People in Need Foundation we have received new windows for our apartments. But, in fact, only Rinat Akhmetov's Foundation helped us with food. Caritas Foundation started helping us later...
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