"Explosions, shooting in the village happen from morning to night. People are dying”

I'm very lucky to be an adult now. I'm 16 years old. So, thirteen years of my life I lived in peace and quiet.

"And now it's all over”

I remember very well the years when I was little. I was taken care of by my grandmother, who was taking  care of me with great love. Happy elementary school years and then high school.

Studying is a great joy for me. I studied and continue to study with love, with great desire. I especially like to remember past games of football and tennis. And trips with concerts, sports competitions in the city of Popasna were a great happiness for us, schoolchildren. We were happy to take part in the life of the school and district.

And now it's all over, three whole years of bleak life. Explosions, shooting in the village from morning to night. People, adults and children are dying. My uncle Kontil Vitalyi, who was only 39 years old, died. He was killed by a shell explosion in the courtyard of a house.

A neighbor, aunt Valentyna, who was left without a leg from the explosion of shells in the yard, became disabled. In our village, two children were left half-orphaned, because their father also died during heavy shelling.

We didn't recognize our school – the gym was broken, the windows were broken, the roof was completely demolished, the walls were split by shrapnel.

My grandmother's house was also hit by a shell, and only ruins remained of it.

All residents of the village were injured.

"We ate what mommy found”

During the Anti-Terrorist Operation years, it was hard for us, adults and children, to survive. We ate what my mommy found: we cooked potatoes, cucumbers, crackers, because the stores were closed. There was no delivery of bread or food.

It was impossible to get out of the buildings, and we  couldn't walk to the city. My parents tried to feed me and my old grandmother, who was eighty years old. And they ate what they could fid.

"The help was timely, thanks to it, we did not starve”

I remember very well the first aid of Rinat Akhmetov, how happy we were with each package of cereals, sugar, butter, flour. The help was timely, and thanks to it, we did not starve.

Small children were even given various sweets.

I now appreciate a piece of bread even more, I keep it, because I really understood its value.

Mercy, humanitarian aid! I understood the meaning of these words in a new way. Therefore, I will cultivate all my moral qualities and help other people. Humanity and kindness are inherent to the people in Rinat Akhmetov's Foundation.

Thank you for helping us, the children, along with the adults.

I promise to be kinder and come to the aid of both adults and children in difficult moments.

I am sincerely grateful to Rinat Akhmetov, who has become a model of humanity and kindness for me.

Sincerely yours, Sashko Myronenko, my grandmother Antonina and mother Tetiana and father Serhii