We were sitting at home then, at about 500-700 meters from us shells began to fall. We ran to the basement. The children were terrified. Every evening we ran to the bomb shelter. We risked that we would not make it. I was more concerned about the children. This went on for a very long time, about one and a half months, until we got tired of it and decided to leave Donetsk [to Mariupol].
I was very frightened, because at that moment our allowances were canceled when it all started.
We were helped by my boss, for whom I worked, and my brother and his wife. We ran to the bomb shelters. I tried not to hide in my basement, because it was very dangerous for the lives of the children and for me. At night, shells also fell, there was no lull.
When we left, we took very few belongings. We thought that a month would pass, everything would be over - and we would be back. But it did not happen, and we have nowhere to return. Neighbors and friends called us and said that two shells had hit our house. And, as they said, there is nowhere to return.
I lost both my sister and a godmother. We came to identify a friend. She left two small children under three years old. It was very scary ... Very hard.
Both the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and the UN helped us a lot. They gave food and hygiene kits. The baby was given a food mixture. After all, we did not have any allowances. We came naked, barefoot.
Later we completed the documents, and the children were sent to school. The children were very anxious. Psychologists worked with them. And when there was a shelling in Vostochny [in Mariupol], it caused another big shock, because we thought it had started here too. I was fearful that the children would remain stutterers.
We have no place to return to in Donetsk. And they have other authorities, not what it used to be. Children here have found where to go. The eldest wants to teach children in kindergarten, and the middle one went to study for detective.
The most important thing is for the war to end as soon as possible, so that peace stays in the country. The real war [World War II] lasted for five years, and it is not known when it would end. People suffered from both this and that side. But I don't know if it will ever end.
I really want all that to end already long ago, so that people would stop suffering. In conclusion, we felt ourselves free. Before we were waiting for something incomprehensible and it was not clear what would happen next ...
