I have been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for more than 20 years. My elbows are twisted. I can't turn them any more. I always feel pain. In recent years, we had to tighten our belts. All the joints have swollen for two months. Everything hurt. And nothing helps, not even  injections. I stopped walking.

I was cared for by a hundred-year-old mother, but two years ago she fell and broke her hip. I haven't been up since that time.

I have a son who lives with his family in Katerynivka, just 10 kilometers from Maksymilianivka. But because of the military actions, it has been more difficult for us to see each other. The bus stopped running. Now the road through Kurakhove is the only way. And it is difficult to travel from there.

Our income — my mother and mine is 2500 UAH. Since we both can't walk, we hire an assistant to help around the house. We give her a third of the pension. We spend the rest on medication and coal.