Our family's life before the war was not particularly mobile and diverse. However, we could afford to go somewhere both financially and physically. We went to the Crimea, to our friends' country cottage, and to Odessa Oblast to visit our relatives. We went to Kyiv for treatment several times a year.
Now we have financial difficulties and, of course, difficulties with freedom of movement on the territory of a once unified peaceful country what is called Ukraine.
I could not even think before the war that we would find ourselves in a war zone and would have to cross checkpoints, lines of demarcation, that we we see this military machinery: planes, tanks, guns to bombard peaceful cities and towns. It was a time machine of some kind as if we got in the Great Patriotic War.
We used to hear about something like happening in Palestine, Africa, that is, somewhere far away. Now we have to witness the same situation.
Earlier we could plan something for the future, renovate our homes. Now everything has stopped. We live only from day to night. We do not look far into the future any more.
We don't have the feeling of stability, constancy, calm, which are so necessary for every person on earth. We live between a rock and a hard place.
We really appreciate the support Rinat Leonidovich Akhmetov provides, as well as the employees of the Help program initiated by Foundation for providing assistance with medication for children.
I am very concerned and outraged by the fact that there is no freedom of movement from and to the anti-terrorist operation zone and checks at checkpoints.
Why is a pass more important than a passport? How can it be called decent? Is this normal, is it civilized?
I had to spend two days on the road to Mariupol and back to glue a photo in my passport, while leaving a child of subgroup A at home and my father at that time, as it turned out, who was living out his last days. (He had cancer, and then, in December, dad passed away). And this could be done in 15 minutes at your place of residence.
No one is certain in their future now. And most importantly this outrage seems to be endless. We are currently trying to just survive, get by.
When quoting a story, a reference to the source – the Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation – is mandatory, as follows:
The Museum of Civilian Voices of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/