“A column of Russian tanks drove up. They shouted: hide or we will shoot.”
“We lay under the bombs for half an hour, then I thought we would never get out of there.”
“My neighbor’s leg was torn off before my eyes.”
This is just a part of the testimonies about the horrors of the Russian occupation in the first month of the full-scale invasion. People who shared their painful memories, experienced abuse and death threats from the Russian occupiers, lost their homes and everything they had earned over the years. They had to flee the war and seek refuge in a safer area. These are the Ukrainian families, wounded by the war, who have been living in a modular town in Makarov, Kyiv region, for almost three years. The TBN UA team, which is a media project of the NGO “We Can!”, visited the displaced people to hear their testimonies and respond to their needs.
“ The Russians came to the village. The soldiers didn’t want to live in the trenches. They wanted to live in good houses with water, gas, and heating. So they went from house to house and chose mine. I said, ‘You can’t come to me, I have a house full of children.’ And they said, ‘Well, whatever, move, ’” recalls one of the residents of the modular town. “ When the Chechens came to us two evenings in a row, I already understood that they wouldn’t joke with us. I told them, ‘Go live in a community center or somewhere else.’ And they said, ‘No, we don’t want to, they’re beating us up like that.’ And that’s it, I didn’t agree to stay in the same house with them . ”
Fear for life, for myself and my children, forced me to make difficult decisions, to drop everything, and to risk everything to escape the occupation.
“ It was very terrible. They managed to grab the documents, the children by the hands, and that was it ,” the woman says, not holding back her excitement. “ We walked under bullets, under fences, stepped over blood and the remains of dead bodies. They covered the children’s eyes so they wouldn’t look .” Another woman, to whom two little daughters are huddled, cannot hold back tears when she recalls her experiences: “There were snipers who were shooting at us, and we were hiding in other people’s houses so they wouldn’t kill us . ”
The path from the occupied territories resembled scenes from horror movies. “Crushed cars, people who were burned, the color of mannequins. There is a foot in a sneaker, but there is no person ,” the man emotionally gestures, sharing terrifying memories. “ It is very terrible, I don’t know how to convey those feelings.”
People survived, but lost everything they had. “When we heard the shooting, we prayed that no Kadyrovtsy would enter the basement where we were sitting. God granted that we remained alive ,” recalls one of the residents of the modular town, who fled the occupied city with two minor sons. “ A few days later, we learned that our apartment had been completely destroyed. There were four “arrivals” there and nothing was left at all .” The pain of memories does not let go of these people to this day. “I never thought that bricks could burn through like that, the panels burned through to the fifth floor ,” says a man, whose eyes still stand before his destroyed family home. “ A pan made of thermoglass, which is supposed to withstand high temperatures, completely melted. There wasn’t even soot from the fire, it burned out from that temperature too . ” Another woman swallows back tears, mentally returning to the terrible days: “One chimney remained. Nothing more. Everything memorable was destroyed in an instant and will never let go again . ”
Internally displaced people are those who have not only lost their homes, but often also lost hope. People are faced with the question: what next? The modular town is a temporary shelter, the houses of which are provided for use for 12 months, but people have been living here for almost three years. The NGO “We Can!” together with partners from Sweden “Star of Hope” Hoppets Stjärna and “Barnens Oas” Tjernobylbarnens OAS have joined forces to support people and bring a little light and God’s love into their difficult new everyday life.
We arrived at the modular town on Christmas Eve, it was snowy, a little frosty, but sunny and warm from the thought that God was touching these people today. This is what the priest who arrived with our team was talking about: “War has come to our country. Someone lost their husband, someone their home, someone their job. Everyone has their own pain, but it hurts everyone. Jesus Christ was born to take away this pain, to heal our souls and hearts. God is with you in all trials. No matter what happens, He is with you and will never leave you . ”
Words of hope are perhaps the most valuable thing that people who have lost hope can hear right now. Feeding, clothing, and pleasing children with gifts is definitely the necessary support that we provided to the displaced. But our greatest desire was to touch their hearts, warm their frozen souls, and show love and concern. After all, people need people. For communication, for mutual assistance, for showing kindness and faith. We were with these people precisely to share our faith in God and His unconditional love. People’s grateful responses speak for themselves. But the greatest comfort for us was their smiles and eyes, in which joy shone again.
“ There are a lot of people here who have lost their homes, from the Luhansk region, from Donetsk region, there are people here from Kharkiv, from Zaporizhia and Kherson. We have not had any help for a year and a half. Thank you for your support and such thoughtful special gifts for the holiday.”
” Thank you for the warm clothes, the children will be warm and comfortable.”
” May God grant you all good health and happiness, and may our native Ukraine prosper.”
” Thank you very much, continue to do your job, continue to bring people the joy that you gave us today . “
“Mission of Good” is a joint project of the NGO “We Can!” and the TBN UA channel, which was created to help Ukrainians in difficult times of testing. You can support the project financially at this link: Partnership