I never thought that in our time in the 21st century Russia could attack us. We did not believe even when it happened. On February 24, when they heard explosions, they realized that this was reality.

Acquaintances and friends immediately began to pack their bags and leave for other countries. There are even those who left for Russia because they were afraid to stay in Ukraine. They, without hesitation, left all their relatives here and left for the aggressor country.

We live with our grandparents, so we decided to stay at home as long as possible.

We can clearly hear the explosions and shots all around. For the first 8 days since the beginning of the war, I did not sleep at all. Couldn’t sleep. We decided that we would be on duty every night at the windows, we would see if helicopters, planes, rockets were flying. I was on duty at the windows with my eldest daughter. The younger daughter and son cried in the first days, were very afraid and said that they wanted to live.

USSR flag and Russian checkpoints

In the 20th of March, the Russian military arrived in the village and offered the local authorities to change the Ukrainian flag to Russian. Ours refused. They left.

A few days later, on March 31, Russian soldiers again arrived in the village. They were armed, in two civilian vehicles, painted with Z-marks, without license plates. They told everyone to leave the administration building. They hung the flag of the Russian Federation on the building, later the wind broke it. Even nature itself resisted it.

And just recently, the rashists hung the flag of the USSR on the administration – red with a star, a sickle and a hammer.

In early April, the Russian invaders began to build checkpoints here – they set up two of them and settled in the village. Rumor has it that they settled in the school building – about 60 people.

Various vehicles drove in and they began to drive through the streets, as if at home. We visited some people in the yard, went into the houses. They did not come to us, but they stopped nearby. They told the neighbors not to be afraid that they would protect us. If at that moment I was there on the street, I would definitely say that it is not necessary to protect us, except from themselves. We lived well, we were happy before the arrival of these monsters.

Russian occupiers take civilian cars and drive them. They often drive around the village drunk. Every exit to the store is a roulette. Children always cry when I go to the store, they are very worried about me.

At checkpoints, all men, whether in cars or minibuses, are undressed and checked for patriotic tattoos. In everyone, they check phones, photos, read instant messengers. Some documents are checked against some lists. If nothing is found, they are released.

Some even had their phones taken away.

The shops

In the first days of the war, shops in the village were closed. We decided to bake bread at home, but there was no yeast. The yeast started to grow on its own.

Over time, shops began to open, but prices increased tenfold: buckwheat costs UAH 80-100, sugar – UAH 100, cigarettes that cost UAH 70 are already UAH 160, salt, which cost UAH 8, is already UAH 80, dry yeast weighing 100 g – 150-180 UAH, flour – 1200 UAH per bag, roll of Obukhov toilet paper – 25-30 UAH, small toothpaste – 130 UAH, pads and tampons – 70-200 UAH.

Then Russian goods began to be delivered to stores. Their prices remain the same. Most people do not buy these goods on principle, although there is no choice, because nothing is brought from Zaporozhye.

But recently I noticed that Ukrainian goods began to appear on the shelves of stores. We suspect that perhaps this is a humanitarian aid that is being sold to us.

Money

All were left without work and pensions. Only merchants work. People’s money is running out and they don’t know how to live on.

The queues at the banks were huge from the first day of the war. They gave out only a thousand hryvnias, then 500 hryvnias.

Local merchants cash out money at interest – at first it was 20-30%, now 7-8%. The pawnshop also cashes money.

Bank cards are not accepted due to poor communication.

Internet, communication

First, we turned off mobile communications. Now there is a connection, but a bad one. Internet Ukrtelecom does not work at all. Another local provider works, but periodically disappears.

The Russians brought their equipment to the local radio station and TV tower.

Education in schools

We have lost a lot of teachers. Children don’t study. In the district they were forced to study in Russian, to switch to the Russian program. But the children studied in Ukrainian, so the management decided to take a forced vacation. The children were given supplements to their certificates.

There are rumors that teachers are being kidnapped. What they want from them, we do not understand.

The medicine

Doctors also began to leave the village: the head physician, a surgeon, a gynecologist, with whom pregnant women had made arrangements for a caesarean. That’s horrible.

We have a lot of sick elderly people who, God forbid, may get worse. What to do then? Where to go for help? Taking them to Zaporozhye is also not an option, because there are no corridors, cars are being shelled. It’s not safe, but people can’t wait with their illnesses.

Medicine

For a long time, pharmacies did not deliver medicines. Because of the panic, people began to buy even what they do not need. Shelves in pharmacies are empty. I couldn’t buy cough medicine for my child because there isn’t any.

We were saved by the fact that one girl found volunteers who bought medicines in Zaporozhye and brought them to us.

There are diabetics in the village, they have the maximum level of sugar in the blood. There was no one to turn to and the medicine had to wait a long time.

Recently, medicines from Russia were brought to one of the pharmacies.

Law enforcement

We have not had a police force since the first day of the war. Stickers, license plates and flashing lights were removed from all police cars.

Conflict between the village head and merchants

The village head came to the central market, near which people sell milk, meat, potatoes, onions and other products. He told them not to trade here anymore because he didn’t like it. People began to complain about how they should be, what to live on, because they receive neither wages nor pensions. He heard this and left. After some time, three Russian soldiers with machine guns came to the merchants. They said that the village head complained that the merchants did not listen to him and asked them to help solve this.

The Russians told the merchants not to sell anything else. And if someone will trade, they will be responsible for it.

Self evacuation

Many carriers have appeared that transport people from the regional center to Zaporozhye for 200-300 dollars. But, of course, there are no guarantees about safety. Whether you will survive is unknown.

Many have already left. Many want to leave, but they don’t have the money to do so.

People ask a person to bring them something they need from Zaporozhye. Recently, one person was carrying food and medicine. Russian soldiers stopped him at the checkpoint and took his car from him because he did not have a power of attorney. The driver began to explain to them that we do not need a power of attorney, we have a law that allows us to drive with a registration certificate. The man began to beg the invaders to give him the car. One of the Russians said to another: “Why are you standing on ceremony with him? I have two free pits, we can bury them in any one.”

The Russian invaders take advantage of the fact that they are armed with machine guns. And that’s why they have power over us. Scary.

We are afraid to leave, we have three children. The youngest daughter is very scared. She often wakes up at night. When a dog barks, it explodes. I don’t know how we can go to Zaporozhye when they are shooting at cars even with children.

I know people leave, but this is roulette. Some pass normally, others come under fire.

The car of one woman, who brings medicine to us from Zaporozhye to the village, was completely beaten up. The Russian military at checkpoints take away medicines and food from her. She quarrels with them, explains that it is lucky for the people who ordered all this. And they take it away and say: “We have people here too.” She answered them: “Let your Russia bring you medicine!” So they smashed the glass on her car because of this.

Ukrainian traitors

I was an eyewitness of how some of the inhabitants of our village became friends with the Russian military. I left the store and saw how they greet each other warmly, hugging, shaking hands.

Then these local residents began to visit grandmothers selling milk and meat. They told them that they should share the money received from trade – give it to the army. From everyone who sells something, they collected money and said that they would send it to the Ukrainian army. But none of our terminals work. So they could not send this money to the Ukrainian army. But after I saw that they were hugging the Russian invaders, I realized that they were collecting money for the Russian army, which was destroying us.

People who cooperate with the rashists have always been for Greater Muscovy. “Ukrainian flag – let it be Ukrainian, Russian flag – let it be Russian, so that no one touches us, so that it is calm,” some residents say.

In the regional center, they say, they even change their passports for Russian ones. And they export all the equipment and mineral fertilizers from the factories to the Crimea.

humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid is not delivered to us. The government does not support this.

It is good that there is an opportunity to order volunteers to buy medicines in Zaporozhye and bring them to us.

Living in an occupation is very difficult. We don’t know what to do. We are very worried about the life of each of us, especially for children.

We want to live in our country, we want to work here, we want our children to live, study and work. We want to build our happy future in our country.

We are wiped off the face of the earth. But we will fight to the last. I believe that everything will be Ukraine. Glory to our Ukrainian defenders!

Earlier, a buchanka shared her story with TSN.ua , who was rescued from the occupied village by her boyfriend, and he himself was captured by the Russians.

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