We’re leaving!? Those were the words that started one of the days in June.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
On New Year’s Eve, an icon in my house snapped and broke. I knew it was not a good sign and from that moment on I listened to everything and was afraid of everything. In February my son and I went to a scheduled rehab in Kharkov. On the night of the 22-23rd of February we miraculously returned home. Driving out of Kharkov I noticed a huge crowd of military vehicles, document checks, checkpoints – I was very concerned.
When I got home to Mariupol, I saw that life was going on as usual and no one was preparing for war. That day I talked to a huge number of people and everyone said that even if something was going to happen, it wasn’t going to happen here. That same day my husband and I went and bought a bag of flour, sugar, butter, cereal and medical supplies. Everyone around me, and my loved ones included, said I was in agony and doing nonsense. Then I went to my neighbors and asked them to prepare the basement, since our basement was very bad. They say friends know each other in trouble – and so they do. With the first explosions we all became like one.
“The war has begun!”. Those were the words our neighbors came running to us. The fear and horror of what we experienced at that moment is impossible to convey. Fear for the children, what to do with Andrey, because you can’t take him by the hand and immediately run to the shelter. With the first explosions we went down into the basement and that is how it was for two days. Because of the humidity and the constant sitting Andrey began to suffocate and I saw my child begin to get very bad in front of my eyes. What to do? We made the decision to stay in the house and leave it as it was.
It was impossible to leave, there is shelling everywhere. Then electricity and telephone service were cut off. We did not know what was going on around us, of course we hoped that our army was strong and invincible, but something went wrong. When the bombs started falling on our heads, the realization came that this was a real war. And we were unlikely to stay alive. Fear gripped everyone, we were afraid to leave the house, but then came a new test – the gas was cut off everywhere. We were certainly not prepared for that. It was freezing outside, -15 C and the sea wind was too strong. The houses were instantly cold and an even greater nightmare began.
After two weeks there was famine. The stores were empty, supplies ran out. Many began to get sick and, unfortunately, to die from the cold. Then we made the decision to act. We had a generator and fuel at work. We drove it from house to house to heat the house a little, cook food, and charge the batteries.
My supply of flour helped many families. My mother and I baked bread and distributed it to people. Yes, it wasn’t quite good, as it was very cold in the house, but there was bread. Everyone shared with each other. It is said that one gets used to everything – this is indeed true. We got used to living this way and even got used to putting up with it.
Spring came, everyone went to the vegetable garden, fighter planes were flying overhead, and we were planting potatoes. Laughter through tears. After a while there was silence, Mariupol stopped being bombed.
They started bringing food to the stores, prices for which were five times higher than in Ukraine. And we almost had no money. Thanks to the rural life, we lived “very good” thanks to the potatoes and numerous twists and turns. I was thinking more and more every day about leaving. My husband was against it, he kept telling me where we were going? This is our home, everything will be fine. But one day my son got worse: severe swelling of his legs, lethargy, a complete lack of medication and treatment… It completely changed our plans.
After going through the filtering process, we packed our bags and left early in the morning for Novoazovsk. The road was difficult and dangerous. But by hook or by crook, with God’s help, we made it to Latvia.
Of course we were worried about Andrey. His condition worsened. He got very severe swelling in his legs, legs turned blue. We often had to stop, put our son on the floor, and massage him. That’s how we got for five days. Then a ferry was waiting for us to Germany. We didn’t choose this country by chance. Our son will get a special treatment with the most expensive medicine in the world. We really hope so!
Now we are living in a refugee camp. I can’t say that it’s easy and good for us. Many times I was going home, but children are the ones we have to live for! Emotionally and mentally it is very hard. Another country, not knowing the language, no loved ones, no relatives, everything left there, all the life, everything we gained over the years. And most importantly, my mother is there. Through her tears she smiles and says everything is alright, she makes jam and waits for our return. We believe that soon we will return home victorious, all the hardships that have befallen us will be over.
Of course, it won’t be like before, it will only be better. The main thing is for everyone to be alive and healthy and to remain human.
Nadezda, Andrey Dolgov mother.
