How can we leave our own home? God gave us this land for use and gave us our house. How can I give it up and leave? Where shall I go? To be sitting somewhere under the fence with a hat in my hand? No, I will never leave! People give up what they don’t need. If I don’t need a thing, I give it up, but I need my house.

‘How can we leave our own home?’

There is no gas supply, no water supply and no electricity. There is no shop, there is just nothing. When shelling happens, we stay at home. We have got used to it. We know where they shell from and where to. We know if we need to hide or just… we keep living and that’s it.

‘How can we leave our own home?’

The roof… it is in holes all over. The doors, the walls and the windows were all damaged. It [the shell] flew in right here. We just came inside, literally some two minutes. If we had not come inside then, we would not be here now.

You cannot get used to it. When they shell, when the shelling starts, your instinct works and you run to hide. However, we take it easier now. We don’t run to the cellar, but we stay inside the house. If a direct hit happens, there is no rescue at all. We are behind our own walls, and the walls are thick. Even if a grenade explodes, it will be ok unless it is thrown in the window. The worst times were in 2014 and 2015, and now it is more or less fine. We can live on here now.з можна жити.