"Everything we have gained was destroyed"

Husband Igor Likhomanov:

I was born in Mariupol, here. In 1985, my wife and I moved to live in Trokhizbenka,. She is from Trokhizbenka. I immediately got a job at Luganskvoda and worked until 2015. It was quite fine at first. Then everything changed.

The most terrible moments were when the house was under attack. We were at home, but we managed to get out in time. So we didn't get hit. The bombardment began, and the shells fell close. We ran to the basement when a shell hit the house. Everything we have gained was destroyed. All the furniture was broken. Literally, everything... There was a sofa and a kitchenette. Everything was broken by fragments.

Wife:

We fixed the roof. There were no windows there, no light. You see? We lived in one room. And there was nothing to sleep on. Gradually we started rebuilding things. We covered the windows. We had to live like that.

As soon as they started shooting, my children and I were very afraid. The heart sank into my shoes. We were with the children. They started shooting somewhere. So we ran to the basement here. Well, then I got sick.  It was a stroke. Then my daughter died.

Husband:

The girl is under guardianship. Her mother is deprived of parental care, and the boy is an orphan. The eldest daughter was drinking and was jailed for theft. We took her children into custody because we were told, "If you don't take them, we will give them to the orphanage." So we did. We brought them up.

We gave the eldest granddaughter good education. She's a nurse. She works in an ambulance. And Veronika, the youngest one, is still studying. Ilya… My mother married a military man and in 2016 they went to his homeland. And two months later, he strangled her, and Iliusha was left an orphan.

The children's mental health, of course, is very disturbed with all these attacks. They are terrified. As soon as they hear an explosion or shoot nearby, they immediately start hiding.

Wife: They understand that Mother is gone. But he says, "She will always be with us." This body is buried, and the soul is with us."

Grandson:

We made angels in class and went outside to hang them. When we went outside, we hung them on a tree and then the wind started and they all flew away. I was on my way home from school on the second day and found it. So I brought it home to my mother. I brought home an angel for my mother so that it would protect her and that evil souls would not come to us.

Husband:

The children are good, obedient. Well, they study, and we study with them. They laugh at us, "What class are you graduating from?" We gave education to our five children. Now we have to take care of the three grandchildren. I want them to get degrees. It's ... it's going to be hard for them. It was easier for me. They have 4-5 people in one class at school.

Granddaughter:

We used to have 12 people, but then when the war started, we had 4 people. Many of my friends left the village. Some of them… Well, I talk to some of them. I don't even know where others are. My grandparents help me and explain if I do something wrong. I'm trying to improve. My grandparents are like my parents.

Husband:

We wish the children would study. And then we can die. Money is not enough. Winter has come, children should be dressed. Now the prices are terrible. Plus, we also need medicines for ourselves. We live on pills.

Wife: There is only one hope – that the children will grow up, that they will not get sick, that they will finish school. We have practically lost hope. Basically, we live for the sake of children, so that the healthy ones grow up, become good people, get an education, and so that we live to see it.