My name is Sofiya Labyntseva, and I’m 13 years old. I live in Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast, where armed hostilities have been taking place for five years.

Year of 2014. At that time I was eight years old, and the events of this year were almost not preserved in my head, but still some moments were deposited in my memories.

It was in 2014 that the war broke out and, to be honest, I still can’t understand the reason.

I remember how my family and I began to collect things in a hurry. I thought that we were just going to have another vacation abroad, but it was not meant to be.

The next 3-4 months we spent with my family friends in the village with my grand-aunt. There were nine of us. We huddled in three beds and one sofa.   

Since there was practically nothing to do in the village, I spent most of the time on the computer and on the iPad, which I regretted very much later. My sight began to deteriorate, which today can no longer be corrected, just adjusted. This is something I will regret for the rest of my life.

Year of 2015. This winter, gunshots and explosions were heard. Normally in such cases, everyone hides in the basements, but we didn’t have it, and we sat on the stairs.    I still remember how scared we were. We were afraid that the windows might broke. My sister and I had to take antidepressants.

Year of 2016. I have no vivid memories.

Year of 2017. At this time, the situation settled down was more or less. Life has become easier, although explosions still occur from time to time. This year, relatives, friends and acquaintances started to leave.