'It is very difficult to live. A day has passed and thank God!’

I was born in this house, in this room. There was a bed in the corner where I was born. I have been living here all the time. It will be 62 years soon.

It used to be somewhat better, life was more cheerful. Maybe people were a little kinder, there were no such problems. I remember my childhood was more cheerful, but now it’s very difficult. A day has passed and thank God. That’s how we live.

The town became deserted. Previously, there were more people who would happily go out somewhere. And now I’m mostly at home. I get up, go to the store, buy something and go back home.

Our mines used to operate, people worked there, even pensioners continued to work and did not want to retire. And now there are no jobs. There is no joy. What will happen tomorrow? Who knows?

When it affected us, we were in Pervomaisk, in the summer of 2014. We went to the market and to the bank. I had to change my banking card. At two o’clock in the afternoon, we just came back home. And in the evening we were told that Pervomaisk was bombed. We saw that the military had gathered there, but we could not imagine that this could happen there.

In October, there was shelling here and we left for Gorsk-Ivanivka to visit my husband’s relatives. We stayed there for about two weeks. Then we went to Zolote-3 village to see our daughter. It was calm and quiet there. We also stayed for about two weeks there. Then they began to shell the village. This was in the middle of October 2014, I think. We came back here.

In October, early November, there were such heavy shelling attacks that little Varya was frightened. This, probably, affected her speech. Once we stayed in the cellar, but we have a damp cellar, we stayed there for about two hours, but it was not possible to be there any longer. Then we hid in the house. Then we went to our relatives. We stayed there. Well, and what is then? No matter how long you stay there, you want to go back home.

For now, we have got used to it, as they say. When there is no shelling, you start thinking why that is. You are already waiting for it. Silence means that there will be something soon. And if they shell, it seems like it’s a normal daily routine.

The only joy is that our grandchildren and our daughter are nearby. Otherwise, there is no any joy and no enthusiasm. Holidays come, but there is no way it used to be, when you wait for something. There is no joy and we don’t know whether there will be.

You just put up with it, but sometimes you speak it out, weep yourself out and it somehow eases your mind. Hope is the last thing to die.

I want the war to end. This is the most important. To have silence around and not to have shelling. To be able to get up in the morning and not to be stressed. To be able to go out with your child.