March 16, 2023. Today, I decided to go into the hell of Mariupol. A few hours ago. A year ago. Because Yulia is alive and she is there, on the neighboring street, near the Drama Theater that was bombed today. She sent a note with someone that she is alive. She was. Before that fraternal megaton bomb that took the lives of half a thousand people under the …
March 24, 2022 I was lying on the couch right next to the window, with shoes on, dressed, in a jacket pulled up to my chin, with a backpack, with 4 dog leashes tied to my hand. The dogs were sleeping with me under the blankets. There was silence, the tanks got quiet. For three days, the tank battle was happening on the neighboring Makar Mazai Street, …
February 27, 2022 That day turned out to be more frightening than the 24th. We still slept in the house, despite the fact that the battle was going on not far away, in Hostomel. Frightening explosions were going off all the time. The morning of the 27th began with Dad telling everyone to quickly go down to the cellar because the battle was getting closer. …
In the morning, an acquaintance called. Congratulated with a holiday. Used a ton of nice but exaggerated adjectives, such as the bravest, the strongest, etc. And said: «Promise that we will greet victory together.» And I remember the woman at the checkpoint… We were moving from one place to another after an assignment. It was already dark. There was a line of cars near the checkpoint. We drove past the queue. …
Like mostly everyone, we were nervous before February 24, but had not dared to fully believe in the possibility of war. The morning of the 24th woke me up with the sounds of explosions and phone calls. From my brother, who is now defending us near Kharkiv, came a short message: it started, be careful. The following hours and days were as if in a fog. How to be careful, what to do, will this …
The story of a gift. Today is exactly two weeks since the tragedy in Dnipro. The funeral of the 17-year-old Maksym Bogutskiy took place. Time to go to the wake. All around is a cemetery. Dozens of pairs of eyes are watching from the monuments… and we are standing with a green apron. Dmytro (45) and Tetiana (47) are lingering to show it to me. It’s the only thing that the …
April 30, 2022 Mama is gone… Blew up on a mine in Mariupol… Papa brought her remains home on a cart… That is all that is known… There is still no connection. We received bits of information through multiple sources… don’t even have the date of death. Don’t message me please. Papa stayed there by himself. _________________ May 27, 2022
Today I finally got my thoughts together. I want to remember everything. It’s very difficult; there’s an emptiness and despair inside. How much do you have to hate people to kill them and destroy their homes? What did the children die for? And they are still dying. There are tears in my eyes that make it hard to write. It’s very bitter to think that these monsters have …
A woman in a pink jacket is trying to push a baby carriage up the ramp of the underground passage. It’s morning. Rush hour. The wheels are twisting around and the carriage won’t go. The woman is practically in tears. The streetcar has just come up and the passage is jammed. The woman and her carriage immediately become an obstacle in everybody’s way, those who are taking advantage of the …
