Mariya Birchenko from Kharkiv
Hello! My name is Mariya. I am 29 years old. I have 3 children. On February 24, my mother woke me up. She was frightened by sounds of an unknown origin. It was dark, nothing was clear. We started watching the news, trying to understand what was happening. We learned from the news that a full-scale war had begun. We were scared. It was very close to us. Neighboring villages were bombed and attacked by the occupiers. On the first day of the war, we hid in the school’s bomb shelter. It was difficult there, with a lot of people and little air. We decided to wait in the hallway. We went to the store under fire because there was not enough food.
Our worst day was this: my husband went to walk the neighbor’s dog, his owners were forced to leave. Then it became very loud and a shell flew near our window. Then we decided to go and save the children. I worked as an accountant and my husband worked in a factory. My youngest child is 1 year and 7 months old. I was most afraid for the children and their future. Now the town is still mined, and in general, to live next to the enemy is scary. Now we live in the Ternopil region in the house of volunteers. We do not pay rent, but we buy all the products ourselves. One of our children needs surgery. It costs 6000 UAH. We receive some child benefits.