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Veronika Yefymenko from Mariupol
Good afternoon, we are internally displaced persons from the city of Mariupol, which is currently unfortunately occupied. But we hope that one day it will become Ukraine again. The war caught us on the first day of the war, because we were just on the outskirts of the city, where the occupiers were arriving, so on the first day we could hear everything even well, unfortunately. We went to our godmother's house, which was located near Azovstal, and we did not know that Azovstal would be bombed. So we thought we were safe, but unfortunately... We saw very terrible events, because my godmother is a doctor, so many people took us to treat them, wrapped them up, because there were a lot of injuries. During the war, my grandfather died, and we buried him in the yard, because it was impossible to bury him in a civilian way. People just laid their relatives and friends on the road, they were lying there like meat... We went through a lot, and there were filterings where you no longer feel like a human being, where they strip you, look at your personal belongings, correspondence, etc. Now everything is more or less good, compared to what we went through. We are in Kyiv, our relatives provided us with housing, so we rent, but for less than we would have rented from a stranger. The three of us live together: me, my son Myron, who is 4 months old, and my grandmother, who is 69 years old. Unfortunately, none of us work, my grandmother is already old, I am still a student and now on maternity leave, and unfortunately, we have very few payments. These are payments for IDPs and for a child. Unfortunately, my father does not help the child, so we have to take care of ourselves somehow. As for humanitarian organizations, the Red Cross provided us with assistance, but not to the extent we needed. Diapers and baby food are the main needs we have now. And the food situation is not so good, to be honest... but more or less. I hope everything will be okay in Ukraine and I would be very grateful for your help, because we are in a very difficult situation now. Thank you for your attention.
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Olha Fursa from Mariupol
Good afternoon, my name is Olga Fursa. This is my daughter Fursa Ivanna Sergeyevna. We are a family from Mariupol. I worked as a primary school teacher in Mariupol. On the day the war started, we woke up to explosions. At first, we were not very scared because Mariupol is a frontline city, it has happened before. But when we read the news, we realized that explosions were happening all over Ukraine, that a full-scale invasion had begun. I got a call from my brother, who was defending Mariupol at the time, and he told me that it was better to leave the city. My brother is currently in captivity, and we have not heard from him for a year and a half. We went to the village of Berdiansk district to an old house where we heated it with wood, went to the neighboring street to get water, baked bread. Over time, the electricity and communication went out, the stores ran out of food, and we couldn't buy anything. We were saved by going to our neighbors and asking them what we could buy. Someone was selling potatoes, someone eggs, someone poultry, and that's how we survived. Then we realized that we were under occupation, because tanks started driving through the village, and the village is located on the Zaporizhzhia-Berdiansk highway. Russian troops were already stationed in Berdiansk and we decided to leave for the territory of Ukraine. It was very difficult to leave, and I remember the most terrible moments from this trip. Here is my daughter telling me what she remembers. "I remember that we passed the first checkpoint, there were two options to leave: through Vasylvka or through Polohy. We were told that the green corridor, where Polohy was, was not a road, but an empty field, that is, there was nothing there, just a field, and a car was driving in front of us, a big military vehicle with a Z, and there were missiles, a tank with the letters Z was driving behind, and it seemed like we were surrounded. We couldn't outrun it, and another tank was coming to meet us, then they all stopped, it seemed like we had already "arrived" and that they wouldn't let us go any further They all started to get out with these machine guns, it turned out to be to transfer from the tank to this big car. We drove on. I also remember how at one checkpoint we gave our passports to the officer so that they could see who we were, and he looked at us and asked: You are from Mariupol, right? We said yes... He asked: Has Mariupol been bombed? Because we only hear rumors... We were very offended by this, we just said that we don't know.... And they stood there and laughed at us... We were traveling for three days, they didn't let us out, there were a lot of checkpoints. When we managed to leave, we were on the territory of Ukraine, we were very happy. We see Ukraine in the future as a prosperous country that will develop and rebuild Mariupol. We need money for rent, we rent an apartment here, and for clothes and shoes. Thank you.
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Nadiya Tkalenko from Mariupol
I briefly recorded my video message. That day, I was going to go to pick up my child from her grandmother. When I came out of the house, I saw the military and tanks, who took me in a circle and insistently asked me to open the gate so that they could drive the tank into the yard. They were going to be stationed there near the sea. It's hard to remember... At that time, I was 4-5 months pregnant. I was very scared when they pointed a gun at me. About a week later, I managed to escape to the city of Kryvyi Rih to my friends. We have been living in their dacha without heating until now. Before the war, I worked as a doctor in a private clinic. The children were in shock and now they are too, because rockets are still flying in Kryvyi Rih. My family has IDP status and a large family. My son Dmytro is 16 years old, my daughter Yelyzaveta is 12 years old and little Amelia is 1 year 3 months old. We really need food and material assistance to buy our children warm clothes and a heater for the winter. I really believe and hope that soon our occupied territories will return to the territory of Ukraine and we will return home to our homes, people to their jobs, children to school and be happy! Thank you very much!
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Maryna Tolochko from Donetsk
I want to tell you our story... It was an ordinary day, my children were supposed to go to school and kindergarten. Then the phone rang and the teacher informed us that the Russians had attacked us in the morning. No one went to school that day, we were confused and scared. Sirens started to sound, my children were very scared, they covered their ears with their hands, ran and hid in the living room. One morning, at about 4-5 o'clock, the air raid alarm sounded again, my son woke up and fell out of bed in fright and injured his knee so that his leg was completely plastered. Then a rocket came from outside the city, we saw explosions through the windows, and later a rocket fell near the school, there was a lot of damage, and then another one came to the park... It was the last straw and we decided to evacuate. I, my children, and my elderly mother took an evacuation train to Volyn. Here we found shelter, rented an apartment and began to build our lives. In the summer, my younger daughter's fears began to emerge, she was afraid of all loud noises, even when the air conditioner in the store was turned on. She would run, hide under a chair and scream: "Mom! Mom, something is flying!" People helped me calm her down, and I prayed to God for help... We couldn't even go for a walk in the park, because if the ride was on, my child would just run away, so we turned to a psychologist for help. My children are 18, 9 and 6 years old. My eldest daughter Tetiana entered the university and is studying to become a psychologist. My son Danylo is in the 4th grade, and my younger daughter Kateryna started 1st grade this year. We need help because my mother, who has diabetes, also lives with us and we need to buy winter clothes for the children and a gas stove with an oven. I really want peace to come soon! So that all the guilty are punished, and with God's help and thanks to the help of good people, we will overcome all the hardships. We will rebuild our country and live in peace and harmony.
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Volodymyr Dotsenko from Mariupol
Good afternoon. My name is Vladimir, I am from Mariupol. I have a son, he is 8 years old. When the war started on February 24, the city was heavily shelled. Then on March 2, the power, water and communication went out, it was impossible to do anything, to call anyone, I was very scared for my child. Then 3 days later, the gas went out, and we had to cook over a fire. We got water as best we could by going to the spring. Then, when it snowed, we started to melt the snow, because it was impossible to move around the city, because there was shelling everywhere, it was scary because we walked around the city and people were lying like this, dead people who could have had their limbs torn off. We were all cooking together. Shops were looted, pharmacies - everything.... and it was very dangerous to walk around the city. Sometimes people went to the spring to get water and never returned. I also went there, but it was very dangerous, so they started to collect water from the snow because of the shelling, drowned the snow and drank this water, and even cooked with it. It was very cold in the basement, and my child started having problems. When we managed to get out of that horror in Zaporizhzhia, we went for a medical examination and the child was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Now I live in the city of Kolomyia. It is very difficult to pay for the apartment and utilities. I ask for your help because it is very difficult to work. It is difficult to find a job. I have not applied to international organizations, I am applying for the first time because it has become very difficult, I ask for your help because I do not know what to do, it has become very difficult for me, I will be grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.
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