Each of our meetings with IDPs is filled with stories that are extremely touching because of their courage, bravery, and pain. They are rich with tears, love, and hugs. Each of their life stories passes right through us and stays imprinted in our hearts. Today we begin to post stories of people who were forced to leave their homes because of the war. The first is the story of Kateryna from the Mykolaiv region:
“We were living, everything was fine. I got up at 6.30 to get my daughter ready for kindergarten. I remember my husband rushing into the room and saying words that I will never forget: “Katya, the war has started, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Mykolaiv are already being shelled”. I am in shock thinking: “Where did it come from? How did they get to Ukraine?”, – Katya tells us about February 24. She, her 4-year-old daughter, and her mother have been living in a shelter in the Lviv region since March.
“I cried a lot, I was hysterical. I started to quickly pack things and dress my daughter, collected water, and put together food. At first, we were hiding at home. The blackouts started, and we took turns sleeping at night, I slept for 2 hours, and my husband was awake, watching, listening to different sounds, whether the tanks are coming. Then vice versa: he went to bed, and I didn’t sleep,” – Katya says – “The shelling began nearby. My husband said: that’s it, now we will spend the night in the shelter. We just came out of the house, and here the military was standing in the yard. It was very scary. But when we saw Ukrainian chevrons, we felt incredible happiness”.
They lived in the shelter for 6 days. There was no light, gas, or water. And outside there were constant battles, local men helped the Ukrainian army. “Wounded guys, soldiers with severed limbs were constantly brought to the shelter. I was pale all the time, I was afraid that someday they would bring my husband”, – Katya says sobbing.
“I didn’t want to leave, my husband said it was necessary for the sake of the child, and we applied for an evacuation train. Then the rockets started flying. I was constantly crying because I just could not stand the horror. On March 9, we received a call and were told that in 2 hours we should be ready, and we were leaving. I understood that I am going without my husband…”, – Kateryna recalls with fear.
“When he was putting us on the train, I saw him crying for the first time. It was unbearable. The platform at the station was filled with men crying and sending their women and children to the west. I tried so hard to remember his face when the train started to move, I took my daughter in my arms so that she could see her father’s face… I called him on the road, and he was sobbing. It was unbearably painful. If it wasn’t for the child, I would never have left him,” Katya explains with tears.
The road to Lviv was very long. For safety reasons, the train was traveling slowly and without lights. “We arrived in Lviv very late. I remember convincing the volunteers that we would not register as IDPs because it was only for a few days,” Katia recalls with a smile.
For the first month, Katia slept with her clothes on to be ready in case a missile attacks start also in Lviv. It was only when they were relocated to a family-type shelter from the Maltese Relief Service that she was able to relax and feel safe.
“Here I realized that no one would expel us, that everything will be fine here. We are all like one big family in the shelter now. You know, I am in Lviv for the first time. And this is a completely different city than russian propaganda told us before. People here are very polite, responsive, and kind. Free accommodation, food, comfortable conditions, friendly attitude. We are grateful to the volunteers for their boundless kindness! Now we all have the same dream – to return home and do the same good there”, – Katya says.
