Marina (37), Valerija (17), Alisa (8)
April 8, 2022, Zilina. Day 43 of the war.
It took her a while to start to talk. She told me that she didn't want to talk about the war and about what they had experienced, because she didn't want to cry at the beginning of our meeting. After she came to Slovakia the day before our meeting, she cried all night. However, as she began to speak, the emotional barrier broke. She needed to pour out her soul, to confide in someone. She couldn't hold it inside any longer. She had to tell me about her fear. When we said goodbye, she told me it was a pity I hadn't arrived the day before.
“We don't understand why we have to run like this. We didn't do anything to anyone. Everything we earned during all our lives remained at home. Every teaspoon in the kitchen, every ribbon for my daughter's hair, I earned it all with my own hands. And suddenly you have to leave it there. Even our parents, our husbands. You keep hearing sounds of sirens and explosions while talking to them on the phone, and this little world of yours disappears in the dust. A rocket fell at the house of our friends. Fortunately, it had been neutralized in the air before, but it still managed to destroy their roof and smashed their windows. Now they are repairing the house using plasterboard. This war has made Ukraine one big family, everyone is helping each other. The pain of others is also your problem at the moment, together we are coping with it and fighting. The children call their friends and classmates and then run to their parents crying, with shaking hands. You keep listening to where and what fell down, they shot down a rocket over our cabin last night. Our neighbor said that the sky was illuminated like during the day. The pressure wave shattered the windows and destroyed the roof."
"You cannot live normally because of all this. You are under constant stress. You can't eat, you can't think normally, you get carried away with every louder sound. We are better here, but we still feel the consequences. The worst thing is when bombs explode around you and you can't do anything. You just sit in the basement and look your kids in the eye, understanding that you can't protect them. However much you'd like that, there is nothing you can do."
"I wish every cat, every dog at home would be fine, I won't even talk about our family. It's so hard. It will be Easter, exactly on my daughter's birthday. I never thought we would celebrate her turning 18 in Slovakia."
"The parents did not want to leave, they have health issues, but mainly they did not want to leave their homes. They have to rely on 2 walls as they do not have a basement. We also didn't have a basement to hide, we had to run to our neighbors every time we heard the sirens. One evening, when the siren started to sound, we woke up the children and ran to the neighbors. However, their gate was closed, so we had no choice but to climb through the fence. It was snowing that night and I slipped while climbing and fell badly. Our neighbor jumped out of bed to open the door for us, but I was already at the entry to the basement with the children. A few days later, I was taken out of the basement to undergo a medical treatment because I had a large swelling in my leg. I probably sprained my ankle, or there was another internal injury."
"At first, we covered all the windows on the outside with plywood. Then we realized that the glass would fall on us anyway. So we put the plywood on the inside as well. We placed the mattresses between two walls in the middle of the house, where it was most safe, and we slept there. We stayed only in the basement when the attacks intensified. You don't see anything for 5 days because it's dark and you can't even go out on the street because it's dangerous. Only after 5 days did we go out like some moles, our eyes couldn't get used to the light."
"You do not leave the basement to go to the store. It won't pay off for you, because the siren will sound halfway and you'd have to go back to hide. I know that those at home have it more difficult now, I don't even want to think about it. That is why we came here to Slovakia, they helped us a lot here. We just have to wait and go back home. I hope it will be soon, I don't believe it will last for 4 years as the Great Patriotic War (note: in Ukraine this is how they call the World War II - 1941-45), it can't be that way! Our Ukraine would not survive, we have already lost half of it."
"We were very lucky during the journey to come here, it only took us 2 days. Others travel longer. Going by train does not mean going straight west. Some tracks were destroyed, you have to go around, then come back, you actually travel in circles. And then you come here where it's calm. You are more or less calm until you call home. Then tears begin to pour. They are worried about us, we are worried about them, that's when it is the worst. We have to prove to them that no one has kidnapped us, that we are well. We still hope that the situation will change and reverse soon."