Olha Skok, 42 years old:

We had the liberation of Kramatorsk. Peaceful time came back. There were still many military men in the city, but the roads and buildings were being restored. Schools were working. We were back to normal life and people returned. And then, in half a year, a shelling happened!

It was an ordinary day. It was in February 2015. An ordinary day like today. Just earlier today, I walked through this place. We have some installation for memories there. We have poppy flowers on that site where the shelling was and where people died. So, it was a similar day, the same sun, all the same.

We were going to our work when the shelling began. We live on the central street. Literally 200 meters away, up the street, a house was hit by the shellfire, windowpanes were blown out and the house was left without power supply.

I work near the clinical hospital. I walked along the street and the door in the sanatorium was open. And thank God that I had some time to run inside because the shelling starts very abruptly. You cannot get ready for it either psychologically or… No matter how many briefings you had, how many times you were told, it does not matter.

People’s reaction is very different. Mothers walk with prams, children walk by, as well as adults. You calmly walk down the street and literally in some 5-10 seconds shelling begins. And you have to make the right decision: you either stand or lie down. We had one mother who said: ‘Well I was told to lie down and so I lay down.’ And while she was lying down, she got wounded. You do not have time to focus.

So, it was in February 2015. We were going out for a walk with the kids. We had a mission to walk around the city and visit a hospital. We simply came out, we were just walking and talking, and we were in a hurry. And somehow, we realized that something was wrong. Some rumbling noise was growing and the shelling began.

People began to hide. We walked along almost the central street, Druzhba Street. And of course, we tarried immediately because there was pharmacy nearby, there were some other buildings nearby. The clinic was some 300 meters away and we thought that we would make it there if we run. I was with two kids. When we were running, we saw that some people were falling down near the hospital.

My older kid started running faster, while Alisa and I slowed down. And when we ran up to the hospital, she squealed: ‘Oh, mom, I can’t run.’ So, I picked her up and we ran inside the clinic. There was chaos in the clinic. There were some injured people, some screaming. There was that whistling sound, the rumble was growing. And the clinic is mostly a children’s hospital. These were mothers, kids and screaming was heard. All that panic lasted some 10 minutes. Then, they began to provide first aid to those who suffered more.

An elderly couple was standing near us. An old lady was wounded, and an old man was running around her and no one approached that old lady because they were providing first aid to young people first. And so long as we sat there in the emergency room – two hours – she just was sitting there all that time. And a man was sitting next to us and he was bleeding...

Volodymyr Skok, 42 years old:

On that very day, gas meters were installed in our apartments. I was supposed to go to the hospital. It always was sort of my duty. And this time, gas meters were being installed, the workers were delayed, so I said to my wife to go. And just at that moment, when they came out, I was standing in our kitchen and looking through the window. I didn't believe it at first. I saw some flashes through the window – one, two. I am on the eighth floor so the view is very good.

I grabbed my cell phone and started calling anxiously. There was no answer for about some 10 minutes. Then, I do not remember now whom I managed to reach by the phone. The first thing that my wife told me was: ‘Alisa was wounded. We are in the hospital now’. I left the younger one at home, said quickly: ‘Vika, stay here’. I took the car and quickly went to the clinic.

In the clinic I was told that they were taken to the first-aid station. It was close there. I quickly rushed in there and saw my Ania who was not wounded. I said: ‘Ania, let’s calm down, let’s go home. There is Vika there and you should soothe her as she is younger.’ And Alisa was sitting there in the first-aid station, where there were some other wounded people and a dead woman. There were many military men, some of them were wounded. We stayed there for about half an hour or maybe a little more, I do not remember it now. After that we went to do an x-ray and put bandage. I took my car and drove them home.

We were mollified that the bone was not touched, only the muscles. The fragment came in and went out. And the doctor told us: ‘You will have to come to have the bandage changed’.

Alisa Chernetska (daughter):

I just could not straighten my leg, let alone walking. I was like a heron, jumping on one leg. But then my mom said that if I did not try to step on that leg I would not be able to walk for a long time. Gradually I began straightening my leg, first a little because it hurt a lot.

When I had a surgical operation on my leg, it hurt up to the knee, and it seemed that it would be easier if the leg was simply amputated. But then the pain passed and I first began to step on the leg. Then I walked of course, dragging one foot.

Mother Olha:

I have two adopted kids and it happened to the adopted kid. That is why it is probably even harder. When something happens to your own child, you react somewhat differently. I have a husband and my own daughter, a biological daughter.

We had some friends, a family, who took kids into their care. We were in close touch with them. So, in half a year my husband and I began to ask if we could adopt one child, to save, to help. This was before the war, when everything was fine, during the peaceful time. We adopted a child.

It turned out that they were almost of the same age and they both went to the first form of school. We adopted the daughter just a week before the first form. And then, a year later, we decided to adopt one more child. We realized that the two kids were of the same age, both were girls and they missed one more sister.

So, we got Viktoriya. We adopted her when she was quite small. While Alisa joined our family at the age of 7, Vika came at the age of 4.5 years. She was such a special kid. There were some peculiarities because these children have certain mental and physical deviations. It takes time for rehabilitation. Foster children are more difficult psychologically too. Your biological kids are your flesh and blood and you feel them. Foster children need to be sort of returned to life, so that they do not feel unwanted, so that they do not feel outcast. And this takes effort. You need to completely reset their consciousness, working on it from day to day.

Alisa has got a mental trauma. I can see it in her. If we walk around the city and there is some humming noise or something falls abruptly, we always crouch. Later we both laugh and change the topic. But there is still this issue. In summer, she went to the children’s camp. And she said: ‘Military planes flew by. I immediately got down under the stairs. This was my automatic reaction.’ And then she said: ‘When I got up, all the children were laughing. Nobody reacted like that. I was the only one who had such a reaction. Mommy, what shell I do with this?’ ‘Nothing,’ I said, ‘maybe it will pass after some time.’ I really want to believe that in the future this will not affect her life.

Volodymyr:

In reality, as far as I can see, I hear in my conversations, only Akhmetov's Humanitarian Centre provides some help, humanitarian [aid], packages are distributed. And as far as I know, they are the only ones here. Maybe there is someone else, I just haven’t heard about it. Therefore, many thanks to them for this. They found me themselves, called me on my cell phone and offered me to choose a camp. We chose Zaporizhzhya. Organization was just wonderful. I even boasted about it to all my colleagues at work and told them that the ticket and the pick up were arranged. My child was really happy.

Alisa:

There was one girl. Her name was Julia. She had severe injuries. On her leg, this muscle where the calves are, it was completely torn off her leg. There were all sorts of burns and injuries on her arms. And so, I realized that her case was even worse than mine. There were two little girls. I was mostly spending my time with them. Both of them didn't have mothers either. And one girl’s leg... there was no leg up to the knee. I was constantly babysitting and running around with them. They came with their grandmothers and it was difficult for grandmothers. And in order not to focus on my injury, I made myself busy with those kids. It was good for them, and I did not have my fear.