"There is nothing more precious than family and lives of my family"

"I saw our destroyed house in the photo. My husband was there at the time of the blow"

When it all started, military planes often circled over the city. They appeared in the sky at the same time, at 04.50 a.m. They seems huge and emitted a terrifying roar.

This was already very frightening and threatening. But I experienced my first horrifying fear when the bridges at the entry into the city were blown up. In the evening of the previous day, we lost all telephone connections.

My family is my husband and two children. In the morning, I took the children to kindergarten. Leaving them on the street with other children and the teacher, I returned home for a bag, as I was going to work. I entered the apartment, and I head a powerful explosion set off.

It was so strong that the closed balcony doors opened easily. It took just a couple of minutes, and another powerful explosion thundered. At that time, it was so scary because you couldn't even understand what was happening. You start to wonder if children are all right.

What was the city like during the war? The tap water was yellow, because the filter station was damaged. None of the banks, ATMs, or terminals at the stores worked.

The most difficult test was when my husband took me and my children to Dnipropetrovsk to visit our relatives, and he returned home. Our factory worked to the bitter, so he he had work, too. The only relatives that remained in the city were our mothers and Pasha.

Since I was far away, I read newspaper and watched the news to know what is happening, and asked them to come to us every day. But Pasha had to work, and his parents had to take care of him.

He went to work literally at the sounds of explosions.

Our house was on one of the 'hot spots.' In the afternoon, as usual, looking through the news, I saw our street in the photo and our house... without the upper fifth floor, without glass. The time of the house impact was indicated.

It is difficult to convey what was happening to me then. I knew perfectly well that Pasha was there at the time. And it really was what I thought but found out for sure later. I couldn't get through – there was no connection.

At such moment, you feel absolutely helpless. Thank God, nothing bad happened to him. After that, without saying a word, I ordered bus tickets for them to Dnipropetrovsk.

"Munitions were launched above our house"

When Pasha was invited to work in Kharkiv, and I returned home with my children from the Dnipropetrovsk to Horlivka, I can think of one night that was particularly scary for me. Fire shells were flying over our house, I could hear them whistling. Our neighbours tried to make their way to the basement. I didn't know what to do. This all happened very quickly. I didn't have to go down to the basement, but... these few minutes were enough to understand how terrible it was.

I would like to erase all the emotions and memories associated with those events from my memory.

Unfortunately, people who have to live withing a war zone range are already used to this situation. They do not always pay attention to the 'noise on the street.' They really need help. There is no job offers. Only tax and trade services are funclional now. It is especially difficult for pensioners and mothers with babies.

We received humanitarian aid from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation in 2015. Finally, we have the opportunity to express our gratitude. Back at that time, our family really needed it!

We have a lot of relatives who have stayed or returned home, many of them live in the towns next to Horlivka.

I really hear a lot about the support the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation provides. Many people say that it fights for the people in our cities the same as before, in time of peace.

The war changed everything

Now we are afraid to go outside because of the war. We left our homes, our homeland. Now we have to adjust to a new way of life. The worst thing about war is that you don't know what to expect.

We dream that the borders will be opened, that we will be able to travel as before. We dream to have direct trains, at least.

My family is the most important thing for me. The events of 2014 have shown that there is nothing more valuable than that.