Mother, Olena Rykova, 31 years old:
We had a playground in Peski – there were 15 children from three houses. Everything was in flowers, peaceful life. Shops were nearby. It was good to live there. It is the third year now since we moved from there. My heart is sore. We were born and raised in this house.
Just before the war, we made the refurbishment, but it is gone now. There was a children's room: a set of furniture, a soft sofa to match the colour of the wallpapers. Two shops on the ground floor. My aunt lived on the fourth floor. The apartment burnt out. My aunt is now in Kyiv.
Something flew in above my bedroom, over my bed. We left just in time, otherwise it would have killed us. A through hole was made into my room. It flew through all the walls and got stuck there. If we slept here, we probably wouldn't be here.
I worked then, and at 5 in the morning we went to the fields and were caught by Grad shellfire. My mom and the children went down to the basement, and they were waiting for me until I came crawling.
We were going through Vodiane. We come and saw this "beauty" here. And we left immediately. It is now the third year since we left the place.
Even the air is different here. Let it be ruins, but I want to be at home. We could restore everything if we had been allowed to come. My whole life is in this room. I slept here with my younger daughter and the older daughter slept there. I am so sorry. Where shall we run next? We have been everywhere: in Kharkiv region, in Odesa and in Kyiv.
We earned it all, but everything was destroyed. It is even harder because we do not have where to return. Where to go next?
My brother lived here with his wife and two daughters. I will take these books and will send the books to them. They now live in Odesa and study at school.
We were given housing here in Pervomayske village, not far from Peski. We pay for electricity and water. We cannot rent housing anywhere because no one of us has a job. The parents are not pensioners. We did not receive IDPs’ social payments. So, this is how we live: parents, two children and me.
At first it was hard, but now we get humanitarian aid, we planted the vegetable garden and can hold up somehow. Volunteers bring us bread, we survive.
The children used to have dancing classes, but there are no dancing classes now. This year, we studied at school quite smoothly, I stayed with them during their lessons all the time. A bus comes and I go with them and we come back together too. We cannot let them go on their own. There is nowhere to play outdoor. Upper-form pupils were going to school on their own, of course, while such small ones were accompanied by their parents.
We were given housing here in Pervomayske village, not far from Peski. We pay for electricity and water. We cannot rent housing anywhere because no one of us has a job. The parents are not pensioners. We did not receive IDPs’ social payments. So, this is how we live: parents, two children and me.
At first it was hard, but now we get humanitarian aid, we planted the vegetable garden and can hold up somehow. Volunteers bring us bread, we survive.
The children used to have dancing classes, but there are no dancing classes now. This year, we studied at school quite smoothly, I stayed with them during their lessons all the time. A bus comes and I go with them and we come back together too. We cannot let them go on their own. There is nowhere to play outdoor. Upper-form pupils were going to school on their own, of course, while such small ones were accompanied by their parents.
Before the war, they were just ordinary kids, sisters. The war came and changed them – if they are given an ice-cream, they share it. And this is so in everything. Not the way it was in the past. They take care about each other. If we run down to the basement, they take each other by the hand and run together. God forbid that somebody would be left over. They came under shellfire in many places, in Peski, in Vodyne and here too.
Daughter:
My grandfather even covered me to protect from shell fragments.
Mother Olena:
Yes, shell fragments were flying here, so the grandfather put her down on the floor and covered her with his body. We got used to it. There are no feelings anymore. We have been living like this for the third year now.
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