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 …
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. …
Blackout 47 hours+1 hour of light+12 hours of darkness. We are having a second blackout. Kyiv, the right bank, 19−20 December. The city is in darkness. For the second day, the power has been out in the apartment. The refrigerator is now a regular cabinet, nobody is expecting to get food from there anymore. The food is out on the balcony. The freezer lasted for a long time. During …
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 …
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
My grandmother Lena was born (1931) and grew up in Mariupol. In our family archive there are photos of the old city, of her grandfather, my great-great-grandfather, with* the first car in the city. Grandma told many stories of her childhood to all her grandchildren, but I am perhaps the only person in the family to whom she entrusted the terrible stories of the war. The war she saw as a child. …
When you arrived in the city, you’d call your friends to arrange a meeting: «Are we meeting in the usual place?» «Near the Drama [Theater]?» «Of course, near the Drama [Theater]!» All roads converged here. There was always a lot of movement and energy at this place. Every year, coming to my native Mariupol, I felt incredible pride and admiration, watching how fast the city was developing. …
I’ve been thinking for a long time whether to write all of this down or not, but still decided to keep it as a memento. The other day I became a mother for the second time. Many of my acquaintances knew about my pregnancy and supported us in every way. Thank you very much, friends! It helped a lot and kept me warm. I hug you tight. I gave birth to a record number of sirens a day: …
