Lyudmila (57), Vladimir (62)

April 10, 2022, Pruske. Day 45 of the war.

They adopted each other's children from their first marriages. They have only one child together - a son who had to stay in Ukraine. Ljudmila's sister stayed at home, she didn't  hear from her for 10 days. They hope that at least the external walls of their house will remain so that they can repair the house when they return. If not, Vladimir is determined to live in a pit house. However, Lyudmila has advanced arthrosis of the knee system. She needs a surgery - a transplant of both knees. They planned to sell two lots of arable land to be able to pay for her surgery. It probably won't be possible now.

“We stayed at home until the very last moment. You don't understand who shoots. One side shoots, the other side shoots, and you're at the center of it all. The city of Izium was destroyed this way. The fighting approached us as the Ukrainians began to retreat. One of the rockets landed near our school. So we went to Svyatihorsk to see my sister, but the shelling started there as well. Our children ran away from home first, they have small children. They called us to come here, we came to join them. We waited for 12 hours for the evacuation train in Krematorsk, only two days before the bomb hit the railway station there." 

"War is something terrible. We had to leave everything at home. Our house, our farm, and our 32-year-old son. Everything is destroyed. We couldn't make the decision and leave for about 2 weeks. We only arrived the day before yesterday, on the April 7th. The front line is already where our house is, the Russians are destroying everything. We do not know where to return, we hope that at least the external walls of the house will remain standing. I am a disabled person of group 2, I have huge issues with my legs. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both knees. I need a surgery - replacement of both knee joints. The surgery is very expensive in Ukraine, therefore we planned to sell two lots of arable land so that we could afford to pay for this surgery. That is probably not going to happen now." 

"Here I help our daughters with the grandchildren, their fathers stayed at home. I am very sorry about what is happening, mainly because of the children. At home we hid in basements. But the cellars are shallow since we have high groundwater. A pit 10 meters deep remained at the place where the rocket exploded next to the school. Our friends took us to Slavinsko when the situation became unbearable and from there we went to Krematorsk to catch the evacuation train. We left everything at home. Here they gave us all the clothes we have." 

Our son is a forester. He works in a national park and is now in charge of its fire protection. There is also a girl with us who lived in a village next door, which was occupied by the Russians first. They even blew up a dam and a bridge, so we had no way to get away from our home. The only way was in the direction of Svyatihorsk. Many people stayed at home. Part of our family had to stay in Ukraine, they are in the Dnipro now. My sister stayed at home with her son and a cow. It's been 10 days since we got any news from her. They have no electricity, no signal, nothing." 

"We released the chickens when we left, others released their cows and pigs. All of the live stock runs through the streets, there is no one to take care of it. We really want to go home. Our grandchildren are here, but we want to go home. I don't want anyone to have experienced the war." 

"We don't understand why this is happening, neither I nor my husband. We stay away from politics. We have no friends in Russia, all our friends and colleagues stayed at home, and now Russia rules over them. We can't imagine what had to happen to someone so he decided to start this war. If at least the external walls of our house remain standing, we will have a place to return. If not, we will live in a pit house. We want to go home. It is nice here, but home is home."