"I thought it was over"

Grandson Artem:

It was a normal day. I woke up and had breakfast. Then friends called me and offered to go for a walk. As soon as we met, there was an explosion.

We thought it was far away from us. Nothing bad would happen. We continued walking. Went to my yard, took a walk here, and went to the garages. Suddenly the shelling started.

We heard the first explosion. Vlad said, "Run!" So we ran. More explosions started. There was smoke everywhere. People were running away. We ran into the house. As I ran, I felt like a rock hit my shoulder. I came home, took off my jacket, looked up and saw a wound. I went to disinfect it immediately. I went into the room. Vlad was sitting with me. He had blood all over his leg. I realised that he had been hit in the leg by a fragment. They started giving him first aid.

Grandson Vlad:

I don't want the war to happen again, because people are dying and their families are suffering. I was very scared I don't want this to happen again.

Grandfather Hryhorii:

I went out on the balcony. Then I heard an explosion at the airfield. We heard this terrible buzzing sound. Pooh! It exploded. 20 minutes later, the shooting started. My daughter came out, saying, "Dad, we're being bombed." I told her to hide. She rushed to the entrance. 10 minutes later, we got a call. I opened the door and saw Vlad and Artem standing there. Vlad had blood on his trousers. At first, we didn't notice Artem's injuries. And then I looked and saw his jacket was broken.

We started calling an ambulance. Not a damn thing worked — not a mobile phone, not a landline phone. I ran to my neighbor. I said, "Sasha, we need to do something. Let's at least put a bandage on him to stop the bleeding." Then an ambulance arrived. When we drove through the city, we saw corpses lying around, covered with a blanket.  We arrived at the trauma unit that was full of people.

Artem: The worst part was when we were running during the explosions. I was afraid it would get hurt. I thought I might not make it home. I thought it was over. I barely made it.

Grandpa cheered us up. I said that everything would be fine, I said I wouldn't worry.

This is my lucky jacket. I was wearing it on 10 February. This is where a fragment hit and came out the other side. I think if it wasn't for the jacket, it could have been a lot worse, because the jacket stopped the fragment after all. They sewed the jacket, and now my younger brother is wearing it. It's very scary to remember and think about it.