"Granddaughter says, "Grandma, what is this war for? I hate it! Mother was killed"

We lived in Mariupol — I and grandfather. Our son Kolya lived with us with [a common-law wife] Maryna. She had a baby —Anyutka. Then they separated. Maryna and Anya went to live in the village of Myrnyi. But they had no wood or water there. My son went to live with another woman, and we took Maryna and Anya to live with us. Maryna was so happy, "Aunt Valya, we almost got tuberculosis there. It was winter." 

Marina got a job and took Anyutka to kindergarten. Everything was fine. On 24 January 2015, Maryna changed shifts and stayed at home. I went to work – I worked part-time in the local housing maintenance office. Grandfather, Maryna and Anya stayed at home. Grandfather went out to buy some water. And they started shooting at that time. You can't imagine what it was. I managed to get to work and hid in the place where we keep trash. I hid by for wall. Shards flew everywhere, destroying everything.

The I ran home from the office. Cars were burning in the parking lot, everything was broken, destroyed. Shops were smashed. I ran home. Grandpa was already there. Maryna was lying on the kitchen floor. She was on the phone by the window when it happened… They called an ambulance but could not get through.

Grandfather put her on the bed and started CPR. And I began to scream and cry. I couldn't bear it.

Our neighbors took Anya. She was sitting next to the refrigerator, covered in blood… She had a big toy mouse. She held it…    

We asked a neighbor to drive Maryna to the hospital. We were taken by ambulance with Anya, she had a splinter. It wasn't taken out then. They said, "We don't have pediatric neurosurgery here." So they patched her wound above the eyebrow. She also had a wound on the leg and on the chin. And then we went to Kirovohrad to take out the fragment.

Maryna died. All the shrapnel got into her lungs, and she was killed right away. What a tragedy! She was so young— 20 years old. She gave birth to Anyutka at the age of 17 and was on maternity leave for three years. She was to be a crane operator. We celebrated her birthday on 25 December. And a month later... 

After this tragedy, I could not go to the house. I didn't go in for forty days… We left. We went to Kirovohrad to take out the shard. Forty days later, my co-workers helped me sweep the glass here. Even now I might sometimes find fragments in the blanket.  

And they still shoot. It is dreadful. You just pray to God for this to stop. You never know what might happen. Anya kept hiding in the storeroom, crying. She said, "Grandma, I'm going to hide here." She put a blanket and lay down.

The granddaughter's mental health is very disturbed. No wonder, the child's mother died before her eyes… She sometimes runs up to me and says, "Grandma, I love you." And then you begin to cry, "I want to see my mother, my mother."

I took her to a psychologist for two years. As soon as she hears shootings, he hides and calls for her mother… She still remembers her mother. Then she says suddenly, "Grandma, I want my mother, I want my mother." I don't know exactly how to explain it to her. I tell her that her mother is in the sky, she sees everything. If you cry, she will feel bad. She has got older, but she sometimes behaves like that. Four years have passed.

Anya didn't know how to write then, but she drew when she went to the psychologist. All the time for two years she drew black pictures. 

When they start shooting, I want to go somewhere to hide. One day we were driving, and then a storm started. I think they were shooting, but I am not sure because of the weather. Now the entrances are all closed. We couldn't manage to get home so quickly, And there was nowhere to hide. We stood, wept, and shouted. I only prayed to God… and tried to hide Anya. Then the man came and took us to his entrance. We were so scared, I started to worry about Anya, I didn't know what to do. 

We go to rehab. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation supports us, too. We really appreciate this! It also helped out at the funeral. We had a memorial made for Marynka. We go to the cemetery with Anya. I tell her, "See, your mother is looking at you, she sees everything."  

We really appreciate the rehabilitation you provide. We were in Zaporizhzhiatwice twice, once in Odessa, and this year we went to Kyiv. We would like to express our gratitude to Rinat Akhmetov. He was the only one who helped us. 

I dream of having a normal life I wish Anya would grow up and get good education. At first, she said that she wanted to be a dentist. Then she started dancing. Teacher at school accepted her for free. Now she says, "Grandma, now I want to be a ballerina."  We think about Anya most of all. So that she would grow up, finish school, so that God would let her live, so that she would not be an orphan… And that there should never be a war again. 

War is a tragedy. Mothers get killed, children get orphaned. There are were many children were injured when we went to rehabilitation! Anya also says, "Grandma, what is this war for? I hate it! Mother was killed" She understands now. She often cries.