We lived very well. We went to bed afraid if we would wake up in the morning. It was very scary. We only went to the first-aid post, went to the store and home. We try to go out less. It is very scary.

You send your kids to school, but you don't know if they'll come back

The military went by. There were a lot of attacks. I wasn't afraid for yourself, but I was terrified for the children. That's how many years the war has been going on. I still can't believe it was war. I keep thinking it was a dream.

And I was afraid for the children, because they had to go to school in the morning. I thought, "Will they come home, will they not come?" They had to go to another village. They went to school in Zaitseve by bus. When  the shooting began but when there are shootings. The bus didn't run. They often had to cancel the lessons. They would study for a week, then stay home for two weeks. The bus often broke down because of the shootings. Sometimes other people's parents brought them home because they tried to pick up their children from school early.

 I was at home on 16 July 2015. I was with my middle son. I saw shells fall from nowhere. All that banging sound... Son said, "Mum, someone's out of luck." Then the second shell. It was so loud! The child stood and wet himself right there. We were terrified. We live God knows where, on the other side. But we could hear it very well. Then four or five shells flew non-stop. We have seen it. And then in the morning the middle brother arrived, saying that Serhii was killed.

Everything inside cracked from the blast wave. The things around was piled up. Everything behind the gate was covered in blood. My daughter-in-law said he was standing near the gate. There was a small covered place where they ate in the summer. When a shell fell, it was shattered by fragments. He asked his daughter in law, "Liuba, how are you?" She was hit by rocks, she said, "I'm fine." "Everything will be Ok."

She got out and pulled him away. He was wounded. His fingers were pierced, and his feet… He was breathing, but blood kept pouring… Then military men arrived. They took him to the checkpoint in an ambulance, and he died on the way. We couldn't save him.