Valentyna Serhiivna Krynytska, 69 years old:

I loved Karlivka! There was no other better place than Karlivka. I really want to see my friend and just talk like normal people.  That is how we live. 

Olha Krynytska, 44 years old:

Everything will be alright. I keep telling myself that this is lightning and thunderstorm. Grandmother. Grandma, of course, is so strong mentally. She's afraid. Well, I'm trying to calm her down, to support her. I have no other choice. It is hard for everyone. It is unclear. Where to run and what to do. Where to hide. That's the worst part.

I witnessed the first fight. There were so many  soldiers in the yard here. And they were lying in wait in our garden. A gas station and cafe were blown up. I witnessed the first battle.

We actually saw only explosions and ran through the basements to the neighbors in the basement, then to the basement church. Grandma can't go down to the basement. You have to take the stairs. Grandmother still somehow manages to do that.

The bombings here were severe. We spent the night in these basements and ate whatever we could. It's not life, it's just existence.

There was a shed here. I burned down. Apparently, it  caught fire from fragments. We used to keep bull calves, pigs, chickens, ducks, and sheep.

It was so awful. The bombing made the windows  in the house rattle. There was this glow. We got used to this, so we take it  normally. We can already tell the difference between the training and the real shooting.

We have nowhere to go. We have lived here for so long. I have lived here for forty-four years. And grandmother has lived here for 70 years. Where should we go? We got used to this. We're trying to pull through.

Valentyna Serhiivna Krynytska:

 I wish it all would end. I wish we would gather as we did before. The whole family together. I can't visit anyone now. Telephone conversations are one thing and... When all this started, I am not allowed to see my family. I want to see them all, take them all here. I know that I don't have much time. I just wish everyone was alive. I wish to see my family.

Maksym Krynytskyi, 11 years old:

When I grow up, I'll fix the roof. There's no one else, just me.