Luydmila (41), Ilja (4), Oleksandr (1)

21. apríla 2022, Bratislava. 56. deň vojny.

When I first saw their powerless bodies lying on the bed, I was very frightened. They had high temperatures for a week and the disease was still not going away. The kids were never sick before they ran away from home. We got in a taxi quickly to go to the urgent care center. We spent endless hours waiting there. Fortunately, they already feel better today. Little Oleksandr still didn't say a word the last time I saw them. 

“My escape began in 2014. I am from the Luhansk region and I have already experienced these horrors. At first we didn't know what was going on when they started shooting. Everything shook like during an earthquake, but there are no earthquakes in our country. That's when I understood what was going on, even though I didn't know what would happen next and what I should do. Having studied in Kharkiv before and knowing the place, I went there and found a job. There I had refugee status for the first time. I met a man later, we had children, and we lived an ordinary life. The war in the east of our country has lasted for 8 years, so we gradually got used to it. Everything my husband and I built over the years has stayed there. We have recently bought a house there and we have just completed its renovation.” 

“My husband was working a night shift when I woke up to the sounds of shooting. I knew right away what was going on, I just couldn't believe it had happened to me the second time in my life that I had to run again. How is it possible that the war will find you for a second time, even though you ran away from it? I didn't know what to do, what to do with the children. I didn't want to leave until the very last moment. We already had a house, we have built everything. I was hoping it would end soon, but that was just a mistake. Then they announced the evacuation of the children and told us that the city was facing heavy fighting. That's why we decided to leave. They promised us that the train journey would take 14 hours, we ended up traveling for more than a day. We had to stop at any moment due to an airstrike alarm. We waited in silence for what would happen. We first came to Lviv. There was an airstrike alarm twice that night that made us to go to the bunker. We went to Uzhhorod the next day, but there were also airstrike alarms. We didn't want to go abroad, but how can you stay with the kids in a place which is being bombed? I didn't want to take any chances for the third time. We decided to cross the border. I don't know what will happen next. My husband stayed in Ukraine because he could not leave, part of my family also stayed there. I am in contact with them mainly thanks to the sim card they gave me here in Slovakia. I can call home for free, the internet no longer works there as the transmitters have been destroyed. My husband has to go outside the city and look for areas where there is a signal so we can make a phone call. Praise the Lord he is all right. I want to go home because everything we have is there. We are not dependent on anyone. I also don't know where the kids will go to kindergarten.” 

“My husband assists with evacuations and distribution of humanitarian aid. My parents stayed in the Luhansk region. They can't get out of there. They can only go to Russia, but they do not want to go there. I am in contact with them only through other people who have a signal in Ukraine and can contact them. They say they can hear the shooting there, but so far they are alive and healthy.” 

“As I mentioned previously, we left Kharkiv because they told us that they were expecting a big attack and that the recommendations sounded clear, the children needed to be evacuated. Combat helicopters flew over our house and opened fire directly over us on the second day of the war. The pressure waves caused by the shooting made the whole house shake. We didn't even risk running away from home. We quickly pushed the children under the table. We did not know where to hide. Behind our house, tanks were moving across the field. Where were we supposed to run? We wouldn't hide from a helicopter or tanks. The older son responded to all this by creating a car that would destroy all the tanks. The younger son spoke only 3 words: mom, dad and boom-boom. He still won't say anything else. He will be 2 years old in the summer, but he cannot say anything else after this experience. We will see how it will affect him in the future. At least the children can sleep peacefully here. The older son cried at home every night. We still hoped it would end soon. Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, every other day. But the war continued, so we decided to leave on April 4. We waited until it was still bearable. We saw tanks, helicopters, soldiers, but luckily they left us in peace. When they were not shooting anywhere nearby, we felt as it was an ordinary day, like when there was peace. But then it started, one, two, three days of heavy shooting. Only then you understand that there isn’t going to be peace anytime soon and that the soldiers will not just leave. I have already experienced this in 2014 and I wanted to protect my children.” 

“No one knows how long it will all take, no one understands why this war even started. What is our fault? War is present with us here, too, in our heads. Whenever something outside on the street makes a loud sound, a sudden noise makes you startle and think there is shooting going on. During the day, when you talk to other people, you feel that everything is fine. The stress also affected the children. When we came to Slovakia, both of my sons got sick almost immediately, they had intestinal problems and high temperatures, it took about a week. Then they were fine for 2 days, and now they are both ill again. They have cough, mucus, they have very high temperatures, up to 40 degrees. When you're at home, you know what to do, but how do you seek help in a foreign country? You don't know the language, you don't know how to explain things, how to ask for something.”