I too can now write the saddest story. Today, before my eyes, a young woman was rescued from the rubble in Dnipro. I watched every phase. For two hours, rescuers were just trying to get closer. It was a miracle. 20 hours under the rubble, night, the temperature is minus 3 degrees Celsius. Kateryna. Deaf-mute. That’s significant. Can you imagine-a «minute of silence» is announced, when …
We never know who will get off the Vostok SOS bus in the afternoon. Because those who got on the waiting list yesterday and whom we could rescue first have to get on the bus in the morning. But there was shelling at night, and it made people change their minds so drastically that they all stood near the bus, ready to go — some with a small …
This is Andriy. It’s worth hearing a bit about him. We needed to bring 20 tons of humanitarian aid to Kharkiv (medicine, food, walkie-talkies, baby food, etc.). We needed a driver with a truck. Everyone bitched about going. They whinged that, «they're shooting there, I can’t be arsed to go there.» But there was one guy. Andriy. He has this fucking amazing MAN truck. It’s so clean, it’s like being …
The story of a photograph. This boy in the Bucha refrigeration unit next to all the bodies has probably been seen in the most distant corners of the world, far from Ukraine. His name is Ihor, he’s 24 and it turns out that we once lived on neighboring streets for many years. He’s one of those volunteers who went to Bucha after it was de-occupied to collect the bodies …
My wife Arenda is a Dutch citizen, so the embassy of the Netherlands warned us a week and a half before the war that we had to leave. But we did not listen and stayed at home. It was unbelievable that there would be a full-scale invasion, the maximum we feared was serious military action in eastern Ukraine. So, despite the warnings, we continued to develop the family business (we have a bakery, a cafe, and a center …
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 …
War always exposes the inner workings of human nature. Some people show only kindness, while others reveal shit. Today the phone rang and I saw an unfamiliar number: — Hello, heeelo, is it Vira?— Yes, that’s me, Vira.— My name is Mykola, I am a farmer from the village. L ***— Where is it?— Ah, whatever. Vira, I am now serving in the army, so my house and my workers' houses are vacant. The houses have …
By the way, do you know who transported humanitarian aid through Lake Lagoda to Leningrad during the Blockade? Many did—including my great-uncle Hryhoriy Yevdokymovych Naumenko. He died a few years ago, at nearly a hundred. Back in 2014, his children wouldn’t let him go to Kyiv to the Maidan. He had even packed his things. Yet he went through Ladoga, wrapping his hands around the steering wheel with a rag …
Strange thoughts come into your head when you are running with a pot full of fiery borsch under enemy fire. Will you get there or not? How can you lie down without turning over the pot? Where will the next person lie down? How will you look in a puddle of borscht, if you know what happens? What will our department eat …
