Petropavlika, 24.07.23

„If god decides it’s my time he will take me“

Another basement and more sorrowful destinies.

A blanket serves as the door.

“We live here. Along with mice and rats of course, we don’t even have peace from them.”

They receive food from aid organizations or soldiers. There is no water supply; the wells are contaminated and unusable. In some cases, they have no more than 0.5 liters of water per day.

The woman in the photo is alone. Her husband has already passed away, and one of her sons as well. The other lives in Dnepr, and she is here…..

Read the full story in my book

This is Olja, 80 years old.

She lives in Podoly very close to the front line.

The sound of artillery is long time part of her daily routine.

She is one of the few people left in her village.

The village shop where she used to buy her groceries is long gone, but she still wants to stay: “where else should I go?” she says. She has always lived here and if God decides that she should die, then so it be. As long as it hasn't happened yet, she'll take care of her house, her garden, her potatoes…..

Vera, 97 yrs, 25.08.2023,Podoly.

It was heartbreaking to see Vera cry when we asked her whether she wanted to be evacuated or not. Like many others, she does not know where to be evacuated to. She doesn't have no-one to take care of her but now since most of her neighbours already left she also knows she can't stay behind.

Unfortunately, I don't know whether she ultimately left or stayed because she unfortunately doesn't have a cellphone and so can not be contacted.

Sergey and his friends, with whom he has been existing in a basement for 1.5 years, welcomed us so warmly that it embarrassed me. He insisted on sharing his tea with us and giving us some of his food.

It's not just the obvious things like the lack of essentials, running water, a normal home, heating, vegetables, fruits, etc., that burden people, but also the lack of social contacts.

After existing in close quarters with the same people for 1.5 years, never seeing different faces, one is extremely happy to break out of the routine of constant shelling and be able to talk to other people.

That's why Sergey also offered us some of his moonshine vodka to celebrate the occasion and talk to us a little longer.