“I came to my senses when Hanna was shouting from under the table: “Grandma, what is this?!”

Grandmother Zynaida Vasylivna:

I still can't believe that this happened to me and I can’t get my head around it at all. I look around the room, Lord, did this really happen to me?

My granddaughter and I usually slept here on the bed. It was winter and there was no electricity. We bought a battery-to-light converter. It was on 7th February. We were sitting and playing cards. The grandson undressed and went to the living room to sleep on the sofa. I said to my granddaughter Hanna: “Let's go to bed.” Hanna: “Grandma, let's play one more time?” And this one more round of cards saved us.

I switched off. I don't remember anything. I don`t remember the explosion. I just collapsed where I was – uh! Something rumbled amid the darkness. I came to my senses when Hanna was shouting from under the table: "Grandma, what is this ?!"

I didn't hear any explosions, nothing anywhere. Then Andriy ran in, just in his pants, and shouted: “On the floor! It’s shellfire!” And then he fell to the floor. I was sitting on the chair and I remained in the same position. I could not understand anything. There came a buzz there and then. The sound was quiet, I did not hear a loud explosion.

The carpet was hung a little lower. The carpet hang on the wall, and I could only see the stripe, the sky and fire. I shouted to my husband: “Mykola, we are on fire!” If we had gone to bed, we would not be alive... The slag blocks from the wall were all on this bed, and the bed was flattened to the ground.

When everything happened, Hanna found herself under the table. When I pulled her out of there, she had such a bruise on her cheek, like an apple. Apparently, the blow wave hit her against the table. She shouted: “Grandma, what is this ?!” And first thing I started examining her: “Does it hurt? Do you feel pain?” I said: “It is ok, Hanna, the bones are intact. And this will be healed.” She was shaking all over.

Granddaughter Hanna, 12 years old:

– Explosion. I look up, and there is no wall. Fire.

Grandmother:

- The grandson was stricken just slightly. He was in bed under a thick polyester blanket, and apparently this synthetic blanket saved him. He was covered with slag blocks to his wrist. And when we began to pull him, the eldest grandson jumped up, took him by the armpits and pulled him out. I thought he had no arms or legs, nothing alive. He was alive and intact, thank God!