“ February 23, 2022. Nothing predicted that this would be the last peaceful day…
February 24. At six in the morning I was woken up by a call from my daughter. Russia treacherously attacked Ukraine. Cities and villages are being bombed, columns of tanks are advancing on our land.
February 26. Fighting, explosions, basement.”
This chronicle was kept by Lyudmila Hunich, who at the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine lived in the village of Makovyshche in the Kyiv region. Together with her husband and two minor grandchildren, the woman witnessed the battles that took place on the outskirts of Kyiv. For 16 days, the family hid in the basement, where they were joined by relatives from Bucha and Hlevakha. In total, 11 people escaped the shelling in the cramped, damp cellar.
“ We had to rearrange the basement, throw out some of the cans, and make some seating, because the basement was small, about 2 by 2 meters. It was very cold, so all the warm things and blankets went into the basement. The children were scared, crying, screaming, and we had no right to show them that we were scared too. We hung up New Year’s garlands for the lights, read fairy tales to the children, and sang. You won’t believe it, but we even sang the Ukrainian anthem. And then the orcs came to the village ,” recalls Ms. Lyudmila, the first days of the invasion. The woman entrusted all her memories to the diary she kept during her stay under occupation. These short notes paint a terrifying picture of survival and the risks that peaceful Ukrainians faced because of the war unleashed by the Russians.
“ March 4. The orcs started rampaging early. Explosions, planes, helicopters from the very morning. Machine gun fire begins not far from us. Everyone runs to the basement… Serhiy stays to close the house, and I go down to the basement… I didn’t have time… A shell or mine explodes in the yard. God saved us. Serhiy fell on the threshold, I was concussed. I don’t hear anything.”
Lyudmila Hunich once worked as an operating room nurse at a blood transfusion center in Chernobyl. After the Chernobyl accident in 1986, she and her husband left and settled in Makovyshche. The war became a new, more terrible ordeal for the family.
“ March 9. At around 6:00, 4 planes flew over… We learned from our neighbors that the district center had been bombed. The small, peaceful town was unrecognizable. One of our defense workers was killed in a raid on a bakery in Makariv, the other was operated on and sent home to Makovyshche. Grief for the parents. There are only a few families left on the street. Everyone is helping each other. We will hold on. There is nowhere to run… Anya walks around all day dressed up in honor of Shevchenko’s birthday.”
Anya and Tanya are Ms. Lyudmila’s granddaughters. She and her husband are the guardians of the girls, because their mother, unfortunately, got into bad company and did not take care of her daughters. The eldest, Tanya, was injured during childbirth. The doctors gave very bleak forecasts. Grandma and Grandpa could only pray and hope for a miracle. “We prayed to God to help us and not turn away from us. Our prayers were heard. Tanya was saved, but we began to fight for her to get up and be able to live a normal life. It was difficult, but with God’s help we won. In 2016, we took Tanya into our care, and in 2018, our younger granddaughter was taken from her mother and taken to a shelter, from where we took her away. Anya did not speak at all until she was 5 years old. After six months, she started talking. “We spent a lot of time playing with the children, doing crafts with them, visiting various clubs and sections so that they would be like other children ,” Ms. Lyudmila shared in a conversation with our colleagues from the TBN UA channel. The life of a woman was quite difficult even before the war. The Russian invasion added to the anxiety for the lives and health of the girls. All that remained, as before, was to pray and hope for God’s protection. And salvation was not long in coming.
“ March 10. Sometime after 6:00 (no one looks at the clock) the “concert” began. We managed to get partially dressed and run out into the basement. We were firing for a long time and loudly… Some kind of equipment was driving around the village, guns were firing from us, then back at us. Today was the scariest day of all. We were afraid that they would start clearing the village.
March 11. The 16th day of the war has come… A neighbor came running to us and said that a “green corridor” to Zhytomyr had been opened and we urgently needed to leave Makovyshche so that our soldiers could destroy the bastards. We gathered in 15 minutes, 7 people fit into a small car and drove away without a trace… Our dear boys at the checkpoint saw us off and gave the children in the car their sweets. They didn’t want to take anything from us as a gift for our defenders, our boys. God, help them stay alive, and for us to return home…”.
The Gunich family left for Lutsk, and after the liberation of the Kyiv region, they immediately returned to their native Makovyshche. Here, Tanya and Anya study at a gymnasium together with other children with special educational needs. The girls have the status of children with disabilities since childhood, they have a daily need for medication, for which their grandparents spend a lot of money from their modest pensions. And then there are the needs for clothing, special nutrition, and finally, there are utility bills and the need for medication for the elderly caregivers themselves. The list is long.
Having learned about this family, the team of the NGO “We Can!” and the TBN UA channel decided to help cover urgent needs. We gave the girls winter jackets, warm shoes, sports suits, jeans – clothes that the pensioner guardians could not afford. We also brought the family firewood, which the Buchanan district branch of the “Kyiv Forestry” helped us with. When the truck with firewood drove up to the Gunichs’ house, Ms. Lyudmila asked: “Is this really for us? This is too much! Maybe half for us, and the rest for someone else in need?” . When the woman was assured that all the firewood was for her family, she could no longer hold back her tears: “Thank you, this will be enough for us for two years .” And the owner of the house added: “I see and feel how the Lord shows His love and care for us.”
The Gunich family is an example of Ukrainians who, despite the fears of war and the blows of fate, remain humane and loving. And also sacrificial. Even when they themselves are in trouble. Mrs. Lyudmila and her husband make preserves from the vegetables they grow in their small garden and send them to the front to the Ukrainian defenders along with drawings by Tanya and Ani. Simple and sincere help from those who know the price of life. This family has one wonderful trait – gratitude. They sincerely thank God for not leaving them alone in their problems, for protecting and protecting them, and for sending help through caring people.
The public organization “We Can!” continues to help Ukrainians get through the difficult times of war. You can support charitable projects financially at this link: Partnership . Let’s band together for good deeds!