I never hug strangers. However, I hugged this man goodbye. We talked at the bus stop. This is B. He is from Irpin. I don’t show his face.

«My wife and granddaughter were blown up in front of me. They helped volunteers. Well, they gave them food, medicine … They went outside for water, and I stayed at home. That’s where they were blown up. There was a lot of blood… A hand here, a piece of the head there… I then collected them in bag and buried them in the flower garden so that the dogs would not scatter them… And I didn’t tell my grandson that they are not alive … I will tell him later… I was hiding in basements for twenty-three days. I had an X-ray done here, they said: «Do you smoke?» And I said: «No, I have not smoked for 40 years. This is because I was breathing dust … The military brought me here. Our military are generally wonderful guys. They fed us when there was nothing to eat, and they gave us medicine. God bless them. And the house … There is no house. I lay under the rubble for three days until our people found me. And they barely found me. Accidentally. I am alive by accident. I was thrown into a pit, and I’m alive. I will return after the war. I will build something small. And my relatives … I will bury them like human beings. I will not stay here. What have we done to the Russians that they are doing this to us? Why? My wife was a teacher and I was a locksmith… Why?»

The man tries not to cry. He thanks me. He promises to go to a psychologist and see the doctor again. I hugged him. That’s the least I could give him…

UPD. Thanks to the girls from the Center for Administrative Services in Stryi, I found him.

Tetiana, the town of Stryi