In February 2013, joy came to our family. Having lived together for thirteen years, a long-awaited event has come to us. I found out we were going to have a baby!

My husband and I had no words to express this surprise and joy after so many years of life, effort, and treatment. Everything was great. The husband had a job. So did I. Most importantly, we were expecting a baby. And then the long-awaited day came, I was taken to the hospital and on 21 October 2013, a boy was born.

When I was in the hospital, the events on the Maidan began. I found our what was going on from my family. I was sure until recently that it was all temporary, that everything would end soon, but I was wrong.

At that moment how I couldn't even think it would turn out. Life went on.

Then hostilities started in  Sloviansk. I found from a friend who lived in Sloviansk that bombings, explosions, and shootings happened there at that time. I thought to the last that this horror called war would not reach us. But I was wrong.

In March 2014, we learned that military equipment had entered the locality 25 kilometres away. I can't explain how terrifed I felt. So the spring and summer of 2014 passed, and we were waiting for everything to end, but it did not happen.

"We decided to have a second baby against all odds"

In September 2014, military hardware was brought to our village. During this period, I learned that we were going to have a second child. We didn't know whether to be happy or sad. However, children bring only joy, especially after so many years of waiting. So we decided to have a second baby against all odds.

Then the worst part began. Endless attacks, us constantly running to the basement with a baby and me, five-month pregnant... We equipped the basement so as to hide from the bombings, put beds there, a stove for heating, because we couldn't stay there just with a child like that.

When the attacks stopped, we often had no electricity and gas. Fortunately, my husband remade the stove in the house, and we could heat it with wood while patching the gas pipeline and restoring power lines. My husband repaired light and gas more than once with other men, because gas and electric services did not have time to come to our calls.

There were even such attacks that we went to spend the night in a bomb shelter that was equipped at our school.

Many people left the village, because it was very scary. We stayed here, because I was pregnant. Plus, we had a little baby.

"We cannot return the time before the war"

It was February 2015. The cease-fire terms in Donbass were discussed in Minsk. We expected that some things would clear from these negotiations. Finally, the parties agreed to  cease fire. I was admitted to the hospital on 12 February. On 13 February, our second child was born. It was such a joy, but it was overshadowed by what was happening outside the walls of the hospital. I will probably never forget this roar of exploding shells and shots.

I was lying in the hospital, and everything was shaking and rumbling. My husband with his parents and the older child, who at that time was one year and three months old, were sitting in the basement at home. What they experienced was even worse than the situation here, in the district center.

Since 15 February, armed hostilities seemed to abate for a while. We cannot return the time before the war. My husband lost his job. I was on maternity leave, so we, with two small children, had to face big financial problems.

Foundation's assistance

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to those who helped us and are still helping us and do not forget us in difficult times. We are especially grateful to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and Rinat Leonidovich particularly for their attention and care to people who have suffered in one way or another from the war. We really appreciate what him and his staff did, that they did not leave people in this difficult time. It is very important for people that they are remembered and taken care of, which means that we are not forgotten.

Our whole family is grateful for your help, and we wish you good luck in your noble and very necessary work.