It is said that any experience teaches you something. It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad. But, we’d better not have a war-related experience.
Anna Korenevska, Lviv:
That was a short dialogue I accidentally heard when I came to Lviv. Second week of war, 4:30 AM, hundreds of people inside and outside the station. I tried to understand how I could get to my best friend who was waiting for me in Colegium UCU and decided to ask a volunteer, but she was speaking with some elderly couple (nearly 70-80 years old, I think). They asked about transport to “somewhere”.
– Where? Czech Republic? Poland? Hungary?
– Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, just somewhere.
– Where did you come from?
– From hell…
I think “hell” they called Kharkiv.
Each time I tell this story, I still get goosebumps
Sasha Melnik, Lviv:
Actually, this unfair war has a lot of different strange and awful stories that destroy people’s lives. Today I want to tell you about one of them, it impressed me a lot. This story happened with the guy from my hometown. He is a soldier and serves in one military unit (I can’t say the place in terms of security). In this area there are two military units. One day, volunteers brought first aid kits with medicines to the neighbouring military unit of this guy. In a few hours later, this military unit was bombed and defeated at all. Many young people died! Nobody understood what could happen. Afterwards, it turned out that these first aid kits had special chips that tracked the location. This guy was lucky because he was in another unit…
Fear! Tears! Fury! Only these emotions I could feel when heard this story…
Sofa Smirnova, Germany:
I wanted to stay in my city as much as possible. But my family persuaded me to leave my city. Now I’m going to Berlin. It was a tough decision
I think that Ukraine is not only a place, but also people, so I understand people who save their lives to go back and make this country a better place.
Some days ago I was in Odessa next in Lviv, I am pleased to see people who help each other. But I felt so peaceful in these cities, I hope war and destruction will not affect these places. I know for sure that the enemy will not be able to enter Odessa for a long time, while Nikolaev stands and protects this pearl by the sea.
I met one family from Chernihiv. They say that their city is almost destroyed, and they had to go to Lviv in a cargo truck.
Viktoriia Chorna, Cherkasy:
Now I’m in Cherkasy region. Starting from the second week of the war, I volunteered at a local school. Here we weave camouflage nets for our army and collect humanitarian aid. March 20 me and my family met people from Mariupol. They said that they didn’t know about the humanitarian corridor, so they drove off as soon as the explosions subsided. We helped them to find apartments here. I became friends with a girl from Mariupol, she is in the 11th grade, and now she studies in one of the local schools. I also take care of children, I help them to learn the alphabet and maths.
Olga:
It is said that any experience teaches you something. It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad. But, we’d better not have a war-related experience. Ukrainian people have fought for their independence from generation to generation and continue to do it nowadays. Of course, it hardens us, makes us stronger and shows how friendly we are. But all this was before the russian invasion of our lands.
By order of one cruel villain, he cannot be called a man, many Ukrainians suffer and die. They lost their loved ones who could live and enjoy life. And I’m sure there are thousands of such stories. One of them happened to an acquaintance of mine. He lived in Mariupol before the war. Then he left, but some of his friends stayed and lived for about 25 days in the basement without food, water, and everything necessary for life. After some time, he lost touch with his friend and her family. But a few days later, the girl’s father called and said he had lost her. Then the connection was lost. And what really happened we can only be guessed at. The worst is, you do not understand what happened and how you can help.
You just believe in the best, try to do everything possible and hope that the war will end.
