Alina (37), Daniil (15), Nikita (10) 

Sunday, March 6, 2022, Trencin

Young mother with two sons. She wouldn't go anywhere if there were no children. No one will give them this year back .

"We didn't think about Slovakia at all at first, we wanted to go to France or Germany, but our football coach recommended us Trencin as a place where there is a very strong youth team and where there are good schools. The younger son would like to play football professionally. He played in the basic lineup in Kiev. We would like to stay here. If not, we have Germany as another alternative."

"What we have noticed right away is that it is calm here, everything is closed over the weekend. I really like it here, but home is home. I told my husband that I had never left home with such heavy heart. We decided to take the children out of the country the day after the war broke out. I have never imagined that I would have to pack up quickly, jump in the car with the children and leave the country, driving down an unknown road. The husband remained in western Ukraine and joined the local militia. In fact, the whole family stayed at home, both my parents and my father-in-law. You can't even get to Kiev now. Only if you are a volunteer, soldier or paramedic. We have travelled from Kiev to western Ukraine for 3 days. We came here yesterday. Imagine travelling the distance of 200 km for 7 hours. Luckily I don't have small children, the traffic jams were really bad."

"I am an opera singer, I worked in one of the Kiev theatres and owned 3 cafes with my husband. We live about 15 km outside Kiev, in a government town where all politicians live. We have inherited land from my grandmother and build a house there. So far, this is the only part of the town that has not been affected by the fighting. But the next 3 days are supposed to be very difficult, the Russians want to surround the city and get there. I have reports from my friends who live in other cities, such as Irpin, saying that only ruins remained off their homes. Russians are trying to occupy Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant in Cherson. There are 5 reactors there. The blast could destroy the whole of Europe, but the Russians don't care."

"We have friends in Moscow. We were in touch with them for the first two days, but then we couldn't reach them anymore. They can't even imagine the horror they've caused here, maybe it's better for them not to think about it. They're in a kind of bubble and that's even more dangerous. Everyone knew what happened in Afghanistan, Georgia, and in the end it happened to us. The worst part is that it can't be taken back. Russia is like a meat grinder, they crush everything wherever they go, leaving only dead countries behind. A single person should not have so much power and responsibility in his hands and do this. It's terrible. I wish the Russians would never have to experience what the Ukrainians go through now. I wish them that they will never have to load their children into cars, leave their homes and flee not knowing where they are going, not sure whether there still will be a place to return."