‘Our granddaughter says: ‘Grandpa, Grandma, don’t die! I love you!’

Will it hit or will it not? I don’t know where it’s coming from, but it’s scary. That’s the main thing – it’s terrifying that you are alive today and tomorrow this damn thing comes out of nowhere and you don’t know where it will hit. Our neighbours were hit. But God has spared us so far. One [shell] fell right behind our fence, one on the neighbours’ plot, then not far away… They are falling somewhere around us. Well, about five of them [fell] nearby. My sister lives over there, it landed near her twice, almost hit her house.

My wife had a stroke and she was bound to her bed for a month. That’s why she speaks badly. We keep medicating, but what’s the point... If she has already had a stroke, then most probably no medicine will help. It’s for the age and stress. She would be sitting outside and they’d start firing. She comes home, shaking like this. That’s probably what got her and that’s because she has got a stroke. A lot of neighbours are like that. One lady in the neighbourhood died because of all the explosions nearby.

The most important thing is peace. You would just sit there and a strong explosion goes off somewhere nearby. A healthy person can’t stand it, let alone a sick one.

Our house is at the end [of the street]. On that road over there, there are a few more houses, but on our street, we are the last ones.

There is a woodland up ahead. I don’t know what’s past the woodland.

There used to be a street, people lived there, and now there are only a few families left. The whole street – everything is wrecked. Everyone either died or has left. A lot of people moved away, abandoning everything. And local guys, looters, come right away... We live here and even we were robbed, and if you are not here, then the guys come right away.

You sit there every day and think: if something happens, there’s no one to help. The loneliness is the worst. And it’s hard for us, retirees, or those who are out of health, to be alone here. It’s utter hell. It is very difficult to be without children or without someone around. We live here, our daughter and granddaughter are in Moscow. They used to come here, but they haven’t visited in for a long time. Sometimes we call each other.

Our daughter left a long time ago, she got married; our granddaughter turned 14 and also left to live with them. She still remembers us: ‘Grandpa, Grandma, don’t die! I love you!’ We say: ‘Well, we’re hanging in there.’ We’re waiting for both our daughter and granddaughter. We want to see them before we die. Well, I don’t want to die yet, but my dream is to kiss and hug them before I die.