Olena Lazaryk from Mariupol
When the war started in Mariupol. Of course there was panic. Everyone was running, fussing. What was waiting for us, what would happen next. And, naturally, we could hear shots, explosions remotely, that is on the outskirts of Mariupol.
It was very scary. The child, of course, was very frightened. Well, how could our children react? Naturally, we were afraid. We didn’t leave the house. Periodically we sat in the basement. And after we arrived, the child was naturally so stressed out and afraid to go outside at all.
We see the future of our Ukraine as an independent, prosperous state. My opinion is that the world should see, hear about the fact that there is a war and genocide of the Ukrainian people in Ukraine after all.
What can I be afraid of? For my children, for my parents, for my relatives, for the Ukrainian people who are suffering from the Russian occupants who came to our land to kill us.
Our life changed after February 24. There was constant pressure from Russian soldiers, Chechens. They came to our homes, searched our apartments. It was my apartment that was damaged. Partly because of the bombings.