I have a daughter. She was a 9th grade graduate in 2022. We planned to enter, studied. At work, they planned to hold events in the village, they dreamed of holding concerts on March 8 and Ivan Kupala. In those days, former residents of the village, children and grandchildren of fellow villagers from different regions of Ukraine and the world, and just guests of the community came to us.
My brother is a military man. I can't say that even he was warned about the offensive, but they were preparing for it. Training was conducted a few days before the full-scale invasion began. Then he told us: "The main thing is that your documents are prepared and you are morally ready". We didn't know what to do yet
be prepared as this invasion will be. They did not believe that Chernihiv, which
in principle, a more peripheral city will be the target of the Rashists.
On February 23 (on the eve of the invasion), when my colleague Victoria came and said that an offensive was planned for the 24th, I convinced her that nothing would happen like that. Until 7-8 o'clock in the evening, we were preparing a dance number for March 8, we planned to perform with a dance number with fitness elements. Spent 4 or 5 hours on it.
On the morning of the 24th, a very large convoy woke up from a call from Belarus coming at us. With tears, an acquaintance said that they simply could not call us earlier, because they were jamming the connection, and the convoys have been leaving since 4 in the morning.
I immediately called my mother. She left by the first minibus around 6 o'clock in the morning for Chernihiv. At that time, they did not know that there would be no transport back. We decided yes, my mother is waiting in line at the pharmacy, because it is more possible to buy medicine in Chernihiv, and you can buy some products here in stores. I remember that I got a lot of oil and flour... It's good that I came up with such strategically important, as we already know, products to buy.
On the 25th, I came home from work, we distributed summonses around the village. My brother is fighting and fought at that time, my colleague's two brothers went to fight on the 24th, neighbors, friends, relatives... then we agreed that the relative is not a relative, but we just have to call all conscripts, except for some big injuries (we often know from the village who has chronic serious diseases), because the state was very hopeful for help.
We had our first "arrival" at night from Friday to Saturday - it is from February 25 to 26. We covered the windows, because I monitored the news, and in principle, I followed the recommendations that the state gave in order to feel safer. The children got enough sleep at home at lunch. My daughter was 15 years old, and my godson was 13. Somewhere after 11 p.m., I decided to prepare them, I don't remember whether they had food or some tea. She turned on the light in the kitchen, approached the gas stove, set fire to the comfort and heard a very loud sound outside. This was the first arrival. And then we went down to the cellar for the first time. When they got out, everyone slept in one room with the fewest windows. She is so inside the house, between the rooms. We put mattresses there, laid out the sofa. So they slept.
I stayed at home for a month. First, here is my family, mom, dad. And here my daughter-in-law was, my brother's wife, with my nephew. Kolya's brother was able to visit us twice. He asked to go, but we already rallied as a family and said that we would decide all together. They did not believe that we would fall into a semi-encirclement, that the Russians would enter. Just didn't believe they could do it.
People were killed by shelling near my parents' house on March 9, including children. They took pictures of their things for identification, looked for documents among the things: passports, student documents. They covered their bodies with fabric. People periodically, in turn, went out to see that no dogs ran near them there. We thought that the weather would be warm and we would have to bury them somewhere. But in the morning at 8 o'clock, a car arrived, such a booth as food products are being transported. They began to open that booth, and the driver was given a car and its keys, documents, but the keys to the booth were not. The men opened, broke down those doors in the booth. Then the shepherd came with the driver for the first time. I don't know who and where, but I only remember that his name was Serhiy. They took the bodies of people.
We lived very friendly then. They never thought that, for example, whoever we hope for, they would distance themselves from us. And those people with whom we did not communicate or did not communicate much, we only got healthy - they will be like relatives. They helped a lot.
I evacuated on March 23, when the bridge to Chernihiv was blown up. We reached Zhashkov, Cherkasy region, spent the night in a dormitory for displaced persons. In the morning we looked until we were in a small district center, where there is an ATB, a bazaar, a pharmacy, people plant gardens.
They decided not to go anywhere further, because they understood that Rivne (where they planned to live) had very expensive housing. And it's safe here, it's okay, you can sit for a while. We didn't even think of going abroad.
And only in Zhashkov they noticed how dirty we are. At home, they knew that we would go, so they washed their hair because they mostly walked in hats. But these dirty jackets.. because we just lived in them. We could immediately see who we (immigrants) were. We quickly washed everything.
On April 23, we arrived back, on the 25th Paska was. And on April 26, she was already at work, in the commission for damaged and destroyed property…
link to history
