For me, the war started in February 2014... I am an emotional and suspicious person. I realized back then that the war was inevitable.

I have three children, my elder son was 18 in 2014, he studied at the college, and the youngest one was 13. I was more worried about them than about myself. They had to go to their schools and every day face the deteriorating situation in the city. All those armoured vehicles... My heart is still bleeding for our beloved city.

Later, shellfire started and those fights for the airport. I was married, lived in Spartak, the fence ran right across the settlement. The house where my kids were born, well, it may be called gone now – it had three hits. Children’s mental health is much more vulnerable and suffers more from all the things that happen. All the time, there were clashes between some people in the city, there was shooting, there were shells exploding, drones flying over our heads. Naturally, we decided to leave the city.

We prioritized our children’s future, peace and quiet. Yet, our middle son still stutters, and I am afraid of weapons and loud sounds. I do understand that God has spared us serious consequences, but we all still have this fear inside. As well as a great pain for our beloved city and inability to turn back the time.