In 17 days (from 26.02 til 14.03), Stefania hosted 25 people — total strangers, who were fleeing from the war in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kryvyi Rih. The largest group of people at one time was 11. Mostly, they make «transit» stops to rest here before crossing the border. This woman says she is happy even with such fleeting company, as her husband died …
It all started with the news. Even we watched the news sometimes. And that’s exactly where they started talking about the weird [military] «exercises» of our neighboring «non-brotherly» nations. Then came a call from my dad in Konotop, which is located closer to these neighbors, and the news that military reserves from the Ural had been drawn into these «exercises». The puzzles in my head …
At 5:30 I woke up from my cousin Dmitro’s phone call: «Get up, Ukraine, the Muscovite is attacking — the war started in Ukraine.» Then I constantly read and reread the news. And from what I saw I was filled with panic and fear. Of course, like every mother, my wife Marianna, was worried about the kids. After three days I tried to get them across the border to my parents, …
Maryana and Max are from Ukraine, but it’s their sixth year living in Italy. When the war broke out, Max decided to go back. «The war will be over and then I’ll go back to Ukraine. My friends will ask where I was while they’ve been fighting. What am I going to tell them? That I was hiding in peaceful Italy?!» That day the couple got some furniture …
