Nelya (79)

March 14, 2022, Bratislava. Day 19 of the war.

My second sister lived in Mariupol, thanks to God she died shortly before the war broke out. She was 83 years old. Otherwise she would have starved to death.

"Today I happened to contact my friend's daughter from Odessa. Her whole family lives in Mariupol. Only once did she manage to make a phone call with her cousin, who had to go somewhere on the 9th floor to catch the signal and be able to calm her down and say that everyone - mom and dad - were fine. They are currently hiding in the basement with their 83-year-old neighbor, who was just celebrating her birthday. They have no light, water, nor heating and they have to run around to find new shelter. They are making simple flatbread only using flour, that's all they have." 

"It was such a nice city (Mariupol), so many things have changed there in recent years. My husband and I stayed there after studies. I am a purebred Ukrainian, my husband was Russian. We lived beautifully, we never had a problem with the fact that he was Russian and I was Ukrainian. I spoke Russian there, it was my decision, although Ukrainian is my native language. That was the case at the time, Russian was spoken everywhere in eastern Ukraine. There was a large steel factory producing train rails there, but they had no employees. Therefore, they began bringing in Russian prisoners, whose sentences were reduced for good behavior. Even more of them moved to the city this way. They were often uneducated people. If you did not have a good education, they sent you to work to this facory. That is why there is such a predominance of Russians in Mariupol. Why did they support him (Putin) in 2014? Because the Putin followers believed that we were hurting the Russian-speaking population in Donbas. And then when the war began, several million people fled their homes. Many have moved to Kiev, they were educated people, doctors, various experts and specialists. They had to built a new life from the last things they had left. All intelligence has left, Putin is supported only by those who remained. Who supported the annexation of Crimea? Nobody! The same happened when people were afraid of Hitler and they did not express their opinion out of fear. Europeans, do not be paralyzed by fear. Don't let him come to your home!" 

"My husband died 20 years ago. My son and my bride took me to Kiev so that I would not be alone there. They bought me a small apartment. Everything was great, my grandson was born, my granddaughter grew up, they are wonderful children. Why he's doing this to them? They've never heard of him. But now they will forever know who Putin is."

"First I was driven close to Odessa, to the town of Vasilkov, where the airport and the oil depot are located. I was there when the bombs fell on the oil depots. It was dark everywhere because of the smoke, we could hear only the sounds of gunfire. Then my granddaughter's husband and parents helped me to escape. I drove all the way to Bratislava with them. No one is waiting for the Russians with open arms there, but what can those who are left without weapons do?" 

"My sister, who lives in Cherson, has been paralyzed for two years now after she had a heart attack. She is 73 years old. Her two daughters and her husbands are there with her. They took her to the basement. They have nothing to eat. Russians do not allow Ukrainians to supply humanitarian corridors. They are lucky that they live in a rural area and many people have preserves at home. My second sister lived in Mariupol, thanks to God she died shortly before the war broke out. She was 83 years old. Otherwise she would have starved to death. We managed to bury her. If she died now, she would be lying in her apartment and the smell would spread from under the door. Because no one is there anymore, it's terrible." 

"I want everyone to hear the truth. Many people no longer remember the war. After the war, memories passed between generations, but they are no longer living memories. People just forgot what it's like. People need to realize that the Ukrainians have taken the heaviest weight on their shoulders, the whole sea of ​​blood. But if Putin defeats us, he will come to your home! He won't stop! Before Ukraine he came to Georgia, and everyone was silent, he came to Moldova, everyone was silent, he took Crimea, everyone was silent, he came to Donbas, everyone was silent, and here you have the result!" 

"It is good that we have a young president, the old ones were used to Putin's practices. He's skilled! He is saving not only Ukraine but the whole world! We came here and saw how nice it is here, how good the people are here. We want it to look like this in our country as well. I guess we deserved it. We need the world to help us, Europe, America help us! He (Putin) doesn't understand what he's doing. 80 schools, 40 hospitals were already destroyed. Our soldiers are neither fascists nor Nazis. There may be someone out there who are not happy with what's going on, but you can find them in every country. Please help our nation, we want to go back there. We don't know if and what will remain there. I saw how they shot down a drone a short distance from us with my own eyes. That was the first time I faced a war. We have an expression in Ukraine: a child of war. I was born at the end of the war, when there was not enough of food and we all had to help each other. And he (Putin) takes us back to these times."