Olesya Klymko from Mariupol
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Good day! My family is from Mariupol. My daughter is a mother of many children. She has 4 children, the youngest is 3 years old, and the oldest is 16 years old. We have lived through difficult times. When the war started in Mariupol, we didn’t know what to do. The children were very scared. The grandson, who is 3 years old, constantly held on to his mother and shouted: “Mom, let’s go to the basement, there are many people there, they will save us.” For several days, we were very worried about how to save the children. The daughter found volunteers and left with the children. I stayed in Mariupol because my father stayed there and he is 90 years, so I couldn’t leave him. The first days I could not contact my daughter, I was very worried. Then we got a Russian SIM card and were able to call my daughter. She said: “I know what is happening in Mariupol, very intense shelling.” It is very scary when houses and flats are on fire, critical infrastructure is bombed, it cannot be expressed in words… dead children are lying on the asphalt. When I went outside, I thought I would never come back. I felt so bad. Bombs everywhere. I fled to the basement, but when the basement was also destroyed, I promised my daughter that I would help my grandfather and try to leave. When it got warmer, my daughter called the volunteers, and the volunteers brought me to Zaporizhzhya. When I came here, I was very happy. It is good here because it is quiet, and there is no shelling here. Here they help with humanitarian aid. It is very difficult for us, we live in a rented apartment, and we have small children. Renting an apartment is expensive. It is very difficult for us, but we still believe that we will endure all this if only Ukraine would win, and it will win. Please help in any way you can. Thank you!