Oleksandr Krekoten is a resident of Chernihiv, originally from the Sumy region.  Already the day after the invasion he found himself in a school basement. More than three hundred people were staying in the shelter at that time. There was a sense of unity:  they cooked together, distributed humanitarian aid, supported the elderly.

One night, explosions thundered very close by. A missile had struck the kindergarten next to the school. The building shook, and the air was filled with dust and the smell of burning. That was when Oleksandr realized for the first time that life could end within seconds.

Later, the Krekoten family moved to the Sumy region, to Sashko’s hometown. A year after the invasion, this territory had turned into a grey zone:  mined roads, constant shelling, the enemy chasing after vehicles carrying humanitarian aid. Almost all residents left; only those who had nowhere at all to go remained.

Oleksandr shared his story as part of the project “Rinat Akhmetov for Children. Peaceful Rest for the Children of Ukraine.” The project provides psychological rehabilitation, rest, and recovery for children affected by the war.