A third of the residents left our village due to shelling and unemployment. Abandoned houses are disassembled into bricks. They built houses for a long time, but they are disassembled quickly.
My husband and I moved here from Donetsk 16 years ago. Life in a quiet village seemed like a fairy tale to us. When the war began, everything changed. Constant shelling attacks and broken windows… When heavy guns are engaged, the ground shakes so much that the brick walls can't stand it.
Children and grandchildren left. It was very difficult for us to get used to loneliness. The hardest thing was not to lose heart. But now all my efforts are directed to support my husband. He has diabetes and is confined to a wheelchair – his left leg was amputated due to sequela. He can't do without me.
We often look through our wedding photos together. This gives us the strength to support each other and move on.
We decided that we would never leave Polne. We have five goats, they are our meal ticket. So we have cottage cheese and milk.
