Ayona (33), Vika (15), Valerija (14), Oleksandr (9), Eva (3)

April 8, 2022, Zilina. Day 43 of the war.

She looks like she can't even move when I watch her from a distance. She sits quietly and seems to be detached from the outside world. Whatever happens, she won't move. She's completely numb, which can be a symptom of severe stress. It is visible that she hasn't slept well in a long time. All four of her children are playing together. They do not leave each other for a moment although there is a big age difference between them. The smallest one pulls a little stuffed animal out of my bag. She finally has something of her own, it is not a toy she has to share with others. All her toys stayed at her home.

“We are from Slavinsko, a small town near Krematorsk (a rocket attack on the railway station took place there only a few days ago) in the Donetsk region. We believed that the war would end, that nothing would happen to us. That's why we didn't want to leave. The Russian army kept approaching our town and the bombs began to fall closer and closer. During one of the explosions, glass window shattered into pieces. Significant number of injuries in an explosion or bomb blast  are caused by flying glass fragments. We were lucky. We packed the children immediately and ran away." 

"First we went to Lviv, we came to Slovakia only two days ago. We are completely exhausted. We need to rest. It was already very difficult to live in Ukraine, the shops were empty and you had to look for what you needed. For example, you had to travel to another city to get butter or sugar. You went from store to store and there was nothing left everywhere. We had to help each other and exchange food with our neighbors in order to survive." 

"As we left, the attacks began to escalate and came in ever-increasing waves. You are consumed by nervousness all day long and you are worried about your children. I don't have a husband, I came here with my mom and kids. We traveled here for 2 days. We didn't know where we were going at all. We had no goal. We were helped at the border, where we have received information where we could go. Only then we were making decisions about where to go." 

We are now in Zilina. We have no idea what will happen next. We will monitor the situation and watch how it develops closely and decide accordingly. I am 33 years old and there are 4 children with me. They are 15, 14, 9 and the youngest is 3 years old. Fortunately, the children are fine, but they show that they are tired and that they have experienced and are still experiencing great stress. However, praise the Lord for they are healthy and that they sleep well." 

"If I didn't have kids, I'd probably stay home. One person is easier to save. It's harder to save the whole family."