Alla (33), Zlata (6,5)

March 26, 2022, Rusovce. Day 30 of the war.

They spent almost a month on the road before they came to Slovakia. Alla was finally able to hug her sister. The war divides Ukrainian families. Lack of knowledge and ignorance produces conflicts and divides families in Russia, but also in our country. As Alla said, how can those who have never been to Ukraine claim that it is difficult to live in our country?

"We arrived in Slovakia on March 18, but since the Russians attacked us we left our home in Kyiv on the first day of the war. We woke up around 5 in the morning when we heard the first explosions. We didn't know what was going on at first, only car alarms set off. It took us a while to realize what was going on as the explosions continued. My husband told me that Kiev was the most protected city, but as we have a child, we didn't want to rely on that. We started packing quickly, I took everything I could think of. I woke my daughter, I had to tell her she wouldn't go to school because we had to leave our house and go to a safe place. Traffic jams began to form in the city. Many people were preparing for this in advance and had evacuation suitcases ready. We stood in the traffic jams for 7 - 8 hours, sirens were to be heard everywhere. We traveled until 10 o'clock in the evening. At that time, the government declared a general mobilization. We understood that we would not be able to escape together with my husband. We decided that my daughter and I would continue on our journey and that my husband would stay at home in Ukraine. We had friends in the western part of Ukraine. We spent the night there and in the morning we continued further towards the border. We went to Krakow, Poland, my godmother lives there. She immediately told us to come to her. Many others came there, parents with children, there was very little space. My sister Lyuda was already in Slovakia at that time and she offered me to come and join her. Katarina, who helped and housed my sister and her son, lives alone in a big house and she still had room for us." 

"We came to Slovakia by train, we can finally be together. My daughter Zlata will go to kindergarten on Monday. However, our parents stayed at home in Krivoy Rog. This is our second experience with the war. My husband is from Donetsk and in 2014 he had to leave from there. His parents and sister decided to stay there. I came to Donetsk in 2012, I have met my husband there and we got married later. The situation began to deteriorate in 2013 and one year later the war broke out. First we went to my mother in Krivoy Rog, later we moved to Kiev. My husband found a good job there. We lived there for 4 years and the situation repeats itself again." 

"The Russians came to our rescue again, except that no one wanted them to come. It is the genocide of Ukrainians. The whole world sees it, only the Russians don't understand it. I don't understand how they could be spreading such lies about us. Yes, we are a small country compared to Russia, we are a young country, we have only 30 years of independence, but we long for freedom, for democracy. We have freedom at home, we can express our own opinions, no one beats us for that, no one would imprison us for that like some animals. It's awful to see how the Russians can't even speak out loud. The whole world sees it, only they do not see it themselves. Those who have never been abroad say how bad it is in the West. Those who have never been to Ukraine tell us how difficult it is to live in our country. But how can they say that if they have never been anywhere? We know how we live. We know who we chose. We chose a man who had never been in politics. 73% of Ukraine voted for Zelensky. He's a Jew, so how could the Russians tell us we're Nazis?" 

"Putin is a facist and so are those who help him to destroy us. He is not able to accept that we want to go our own way. He therefore hates us and kills our children, they have already killed more than 120! We had to leave our homes because they were after us as if we were cockroaches and no one knows why. We want justice to prevail. We are fine here, we are safe, but then the heart breaks when we think about what is happening at home. Everyone - my husband, my parents, grandmother, friends - stayed at home. Some could not leave, some have decided to do so themselves." 

"I worked in the field of services at home. I was on maternity leave for several years before that. I studied marketing, but I was never working in that field. Somehow we will try to survive. We believe that peace and truth are on our side!" 

"My husband stayed in Ukraine. He is not on the front line, but he helps as best as he can. It's difficult for him. My daughter asks when we'll see her father every day. I have to explain to her that he still has to help at home, but that everything will be fine soon and that we will be together again. You have to give the child hope and divert its attention every day. We are going to kindergarten tomorrow, there will be toys and other children. There will be a language barrier, but I am counting on the children finding a common language when they start to play. I was very surprised by how we were greeted at the Polish border. A number of volunteers were waiting for us there, everyone tried their best to help us. We were really taken care of. I don't want anyone to have to go through this. The help we receive everywhere is enormous. We are not at home, but we feel comfortable. Our Katarina is unbelievably wonderful person, she helped us with the foreign police, with the nursery, with various things. When we need to go somewhere, she'll take us there right away. There were already a lot of toys and sweets waiting for Zlata in the room when we came here. Huge thanks! We tolerate the whole situation better thanks to Katarina."