"Grandson said, "Grandpa, I don't want to die"

I have lived in Kramatorsk since 1972. I am from Kharkiv Oblast. I have a wife, two daughters, two grandsons, and a granddaughter. My mother lives in the village. She is 93 years old. I need to take care of her, too, help her clean up, plant potatoes, etc. Furthermore, I have to run around my household even though I have little time. because I go to work. Although I receive pension, the payment is not big. I have to work to raise my grandchildren. 

When the war started, my daughters lived with me. Then the older daughter got married a second time, and the younger one lives with me. Now they are repairing the apartment, so they will move shortly.  And wife and I will stay alone with Artem. He wants to live with us. 

We live near the airfield. In 2014, we moved to the old city. A woman offered us a house. She said, "I can't split time between two homes." And we rested there on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

One day I heard explosions at about 09:30 p.m. Bang, Bang! And we have an air conditioning plant here. And a few 82-caliber mines hit it downhill the chalk mountain. Artem said, "Grandpa, I don't want to die. I want to leave this place."

However, the railway didn't work then. We went to Dobrovillia by bus, and thence to Blyzniuky.  We stayed there for two months. And when Kramatorsk was liberated, we arrived there. This happened in 2014. Once we arrived, we heared the banging again!

I heard a humming sound, like a plane or a helicopter was being warmed up. And then we heard the explosion. I went out on the balcony and saw a cloud and fog. I think the rocket blasted off somewhere. «Uragan» or whatever that was.

My daughter told me, "Dad, would you hang out laundry?" " All right, honey." She said, "Where did the rocket blasted off? We need to make a call and find out." They started shooting at that time. My daughter went out on the balcony, "They are firing at us." I said, "Hurry up, hide!" 

I saw what happened to the old road which led to the airfield and the garages. That explosion was crazy! Then the situation escalated. We did not know what that were, 70 centimetres, Uragans were launched. And this bar fell nearby. We were lucky that an apricot tree was there. And it took the hit. 

Artem and his friends were walking in the place where the garages were. Then we heard a call. We found out that His friend Vlad has been wounded. Thank God, Artem was ok. Then the neighbor said, "Artem has also been injured."

He was wearing his down jacket that day. We saw that it was punctured. The right shoulder was hurt.

I ran to my neighbor. I started to bandage Vlad's leg to stop the bleeding and called an ambulance. Our neighbor worked in a pharmacy. She sent for the head nurse.   They rendered first aid. Then an ambulance arrived. Vlad could not walk. I live on the third floor. So I told him, "Come on, get hold of your grandfather's shoulders." So we took him to the elevator. 

We drove through the city. There was a corpse covered with a blanket. And when Artem ran home, he saw that a man who was the chairman of the cooperative was killed nearby. And another man got wounded in his stomach. He works as an electrician in this cooperative.

We went to the emergency room by an ambulance. There were lots of people. I saw a senior nurse there. She is my neighbour. She works in the burn unit there. "Mr Grisha, let's go there, the chief doctor gave his permission."  There Artem was bandaged and sent home, while Vlad was admitted to the hospital. 

This happened on 10 February 2015. We are not that worried about ourselves. We've already got through our lives. And what about them? 

My daughter worked in urology as a nurse in the dressing room. She worked there even during the attacks. "I could hear the sound from the bullets on my way to work," she said. I worked my twenty-four hours and went home. "Once we heard the explosions," he said, "we took all the patients to the bomb shelter. We covered those who could not walk mattresses and blankets."

One day when it was all over, I went in the direction of the garages.  There was this "empty thing". And doors to the garages were probably made of 3-4 millimeter-thick iron, as if a blade cut through the paper.  That how strong the blast was. 

Before the war, a 12-caliber bullet hit the window of the neighbor's house. It was a good thing they weren't at home. And it hit a solid metal corner. If it wasn't for him, we would have a five-room apartment. This bullet would have flown into our kitchen.

Our block doesn't have a bomb shelter, it's just a nine-story building. We didn't even try to hide anywhere. Where could we have hidden? In the toilet? In the bathroom?

When my mother was in the village, there were planes and helicopters flying. They were flying so low that when the cow was walking, they could almost touch her back.

We would really like a truce to come and prevail. People are dying. And what about the children? There is this girl Mila who lost her leg. Many children have been injured. When this attack was still ongoing, 17 people were killed in Kramatorsk, and 65 were injured. I lasted only five minutes. It was real war.

Now Artem is studying at the technical school. He is a junior. He is an electrical technician. He is treading in the steps of his grandfather.  Grandfather is also an electrician. I have worked on construction site, and I still do. Why stay at home? Whenever I have no job, I go to visit my grandmother in the village. I do everything I can. I am like a call boy.  Everyone knows my phone number. People passed it along what I can do. As long as I can, I work. 

The first three months [after the war started] were difficult. We had no money. We lived on  pension. All shops were closed. We spent all the savings we had. It's still hard to live. 

The Akhmetov Foundation provides great assistance. We really appreciate that it helps restore our children's health. There are many rich people in our country, and no one helps us. I really appreciate what Rinat Akhmetov does for Ukraine, for Donbass, that he does not forget us.

We received great humanitarian aid... What if we didn't? How would people live? There are no stores, no nothing. Thus, we really appreciate this!

I wish there was no more war here. I wish my grandchildren got degrees and find jobs. I wish everyone was healthy. I wish my wife was still lives.