Olga (32), Leon (6), Lolika (3), Afina (1)

March 24, 2022, Bratislava. Day 28 of the war.

I would like to say something to the Russian soldiers: "Please fight according to the rules, women and children must not get killed..."

“Our escape from the war began on March 7 and it took us 17 days to get to Bratislava. We traveled by car, train, by bus. We lived at train stations, in kindergartens, in basements, for 2 days in a church. We tried to hide and protect our children. Our house no longer exists. The only family which stayed there hiding in the basement with their children does not respond to our calls, we do not know what happened to them. We didn't leave immediately. We hid in the bathroom for the first 4 days. Then we read that the bathroom is not a safe place. Ceramic tiles and glass can fall on you, which could harm children. We therefore moved to the entry hall, where we were protected by walls from all sides. We spent the last 7 days before the escape in the basement." 

"We lived in the Kiev region, our city is completely destroyed. My mother who stayed there is hiding in an anti-aircraft bunker, they are absolutely forbidden to go out. They no longer have water, electricity or heat. They can't leave because of the shooting. The whole housing estate is on fire. Above all, they destroy schools and kindergartens. Places where mothers with children could hide. There were large food warehouses next to our housing estate, it was the number one target so we would have nothing to eat. They also destroyed 3 gas stations next to us right at the beginning. There was so much smoke that it was impossible to breathe properly. We did not want to leave the city because we listened to our president, who said that the defense of the city would last, that everything would be fine. We also realized that running away with 3 small children is difficult. We didn't want it to affect their health. The children are sick for the 3rd time since we left the house. They were never sick. Doctors say it's because of stress. When they see an airplane in the peaceful sky, they run to hide and shout that they are missiles. We try to go out with them as often as possible so that they understand that everything is fine and that they do not have to worry about anything." 

"When I left work, 2 shrapnels hit me in the face. I tried to stay calm, but I realized what was happening when I wiped my face. When you are under such psychological pressure, you do not even feel the pain. You just run home to the kids. I tried to work to the very end, because no one will pay you social support. The president promised to send us 15% more, but we didn't get anything. They said that each official employee will get paid 6500 hryvnia. But I can't get this money because I'm on maternity leave with three children. I can't be officially employed. We didn't get anything from the state. We were without money, without electricity, without heat, without food at home. Everything, even drinking water, was brought to our home only by volunteers. We were left with about 1,000 hryvnias in cash, but in our part of town we could not pay by card, only in cash. Even if you have money, you can't use it." 

"The world supplies us with weapons, but the soldiers did not have weapons that could protect us at our home. We decided to leave only when the shooting began to resound directly above our shelter. I read a report that there is a woman near us who has an autistic boy and is 8 months pregnant in an internet group. We had more bread than we needed, so I decided to send it to her the next morning. It works like this - patrolling volunteers and soldiers around the city deliver aid to those in need. I came out of hiding in the morning and wanted to give the bread to a group of soldiers to have it delivered to that woman. They told me they weren't local, that they didn't know where to take it. That night, they killed all 15 young soldiers in charge of protecting our hideout. We understood that the situation was serious and we decided to leave. I called one of the local MPs, who gave us his own car. They drove us to a neighbouring village. It was calmer there, but we could still hear the gunfire. When we left the church, we saw a rocket flying overhead. It fell close to us and destroyed a house." 

"If we didn't meet one of the soldiers who helped us at the beginning, there would be no one to drive us. In volunteer groups, they write that cars will come to you and take you from there. But no one comes. Cars are being fired at. Our driver told me about how his friend was released to evacuate his grandmother and grandson. He had to return immediately because they started firing at them. Grandma has burns, her grandson is injured and the driver got shot into his shoulder. The ambulance could not come there. It already happened that they destroyed the whole ambulance. We got to the train station only thanks to the soldier Kolya." 

"We stayed in the kindergarten for 5 days, but we could not wash the children, because many adults ran to the bathrooms and used all the hot water as soon as the boiler turned on. I had to clean the kids with wet wipes. I could not heat the water for the children in the kitchen, because it was needed to prepare meals not only for the kindergarten, but also for us and the soldiers. There was also problem with food, maybe there was something in the water, we don't know. Many children were vomiting and had stomach problems. Doctors treated the children for poisoning." 

"We had to go further, but we didn't know where to go. We met a driver in the Carpathians, who told us that he has a daughter in Slovakia. He told us that Slovakia is a country where we will be well received, that we will understand their language and that children will learn it quickly. We listened to him. And really, at the border, the Slovaks immediately helped us. They played with the children all day and night. The children started to feel like children here again, it was not possible back at home. We did not know whether to laugh or cry after crossing the border. Here, we finally felt peace." 

"I would like to say something to the Russian soldiers: "Please fight according to the rules, women and children must not get killed. You are behaving like terrorists!"

"People run away without clothes and without money. Where is the money if they send you millions from all over the world? Where is the money if soldiers say they don't even have helmets? One of our friends wanted to enlist in the army. They told him to come in warm shoes and dark sportswear. He asked: Will I get a uniform? No! And the gun? We don't have them yet! Soldiers only get weapons after their dead colleagues! He walked away. He said he would not fight the tank with his fists. I don't know how many more civilians will have to die. Ordinary people suffer. Turkey is mediating peace talks, and Putin has been invited, but he has refused to attend. Even Azerbaijan is sending us help. Everyone promises help but only Ukrainians are fighting." 

"While we were in the basement, we helped each other within the housing estate. One of the residents founded the group called "Local News". Everyone within the group could write what they have and what they need. Then this gentleman was shot, now another person is in charge of the group. This was the only way to help each other. Don't imagine that someone is standing with a gun in their hand at the entrance to every basement or shelter. We quickly realized that it was safer to stay in apartments, even if they (the Russians) were shooting at them. When the shooting was over, the (Russian) soldiers went the cellars and killed everyone they were able to find there. A friend who spent 10 days in the basement with her son eating raw potatoes, told me that she saw 2 tanks coming to town and firing at a 9-storey block of flats. They shelled floor after floor so that the building would fall. If the block of flats fell down at us, no one would every find us again. It is impossible to find out when and where the evacuation will take place. We are only hearing that we are holding the defense." 

"I have 3 brothers in Russia. They told me they don't trust Putin. They forced their children to resign at work before all this began. They worked in the army. They say they are not afraid to fight, but they will not fight in an unjust war. They are trying to hide their militarily children because they understand that this is the genocide of our nation and their familiy. These people don't want a war anywhere in the world. Why should we fight in the 21st century? We want to live in peace. We are in contact with our family in Russia, but only with women. The men have been hiding and are actually missing. In Russia, they say that all Russian-speaking people are being killed by Bandera. It was only when our friends visited the western part of the country, where only Russian is spoken, did they see that there is no oppression there. They understood that propaganda full of lies was spreading in Russia." 

"This conflict has united us. Some of us speak Ukrainian, others speak Russian, but we are all Ukrainians. The language you speak should not be deciding who is good and who is bad. It's all about politics and the people who are influenced by it. It happened to us that we had to pay for an overnight stay during the escape just because we spoke Russian. We learned later that those who spoke Ukrainian received free accommodation. We had a train early in the morning, the children needed to get at least some sleep. We paid 1000 hryvnia for 4 hours of sleep. Everything was more or less fine before 2014. We had a Russian school in town, which they closed shortly after. My husband is an Azerbaijani, they also have experience with how the Russians came and killed everyone. They have already caused years-long war and famine in our country. And now they are here again."