"I have lived in Donetsk my whole life. I worked here, raised my children. When the war started in 2014, I couldn't leave my home city and leave my apartment. And I could not move anywhere because of my health condition.
"It is impossible to live under the threat of war"
My apartment is in a house located on Putylivka. It used to be a quiet, leafy district where miners settled down. When the war broke out, we wound up under fire.
We can hear the sound of gunshots every day. And it seems that every house in our area has suffered from the shelling to some extent.
You know, my house is far from the main road – Kyivskyi Prospekt. And every time I go home, from the hospital, for example, I pass by five-story buildings with almost no people left in them. You can see light only in few windows In the evenings. It is so scary! People left and took their children, because it is impossible to live under the threat of war.
"There is no one to ask for help - the same old and sick people like you remain"
Once there were a lot of children here. Young families bought apartments here, because they were not very expensive, and people could take on loans. When you remember how life was before - tears well up.
I live on local social assistance, called "a pension." I can't get my Ukrainian pension redone. I need to go, stand in queues, pay transportation money. Well, I can't ride back and forth, I am in poor health. And there is no one to ask – people are as old and sick as I am.
Do you know how terrible it is when the ambulance does not come to the call, they say, "There's a shooting in your neighbourhood, we won't go?" We understand the doctors, but we feel sorry for ourselves.
When I have to walk to the nearest store for half an hour with my sore feet, isn't this the most enjoyable adventure? When no one needs you, no one will even share a piece of bread...