War. Stories from Ukraine

Ukrainians tell stories about their life during the war

“My biggest fear is that I will not see my relatives and friends again”, Mariana, 26, Kyiv

by | 3 March 2022 | War. Stories from Ukraine, Kyiv

 

Mariana is 26, and she is from Kyiv. She still can’t believe that the war has broken out in Ukraine. Mariana is in the 8th month of pregnancy. She counts weeks to the due date, sitting in the basement during shellings. 

Mariana used to work as a shop assistant. Well-dressed with a stylish hairdo and make-up, she loved strolling along Livoberezhna, her native district in Kyiv. The woman knew about the war from her husband, but she didn’t take it seriously at first. 

“My husband woke me up at 5 a.m. As we had been preparing for labor before, we had everything essential packed in advance. My husband told me to get down to the basement. They let us into a cafe that was underground”.

“But it was tough to stay there. I couldn’t sleep at all, my headache was severe, and I was about to faint. It was hard to breathe, and I had intense pain in my stomach”, Mariana recollects now.  

In the beginning, a couple didn’t dare to leave Kyiv. They didn’t want to abandon a diabetic 83-year-old grandmother, living with them in the same flat. They also thought that everything would end up very quickly. But their relatives and friends urged them to flee. Mariana and her husband did it on the fifth day of the war. The grandmother refused to leave her home and stayed in Kyiv. She said that she had lived through the Second World War, and she would live through this one too. 

It is much safer in their friends’ home countryside, where Mariana and her husband live now. The girl tries to pull herself together and not to worry a lot. She takes sedatives so as not to get into a panic. 

“My biggest fear is that I will not see my relatives and friends again and that there will be no place to go back to, Mariana says, brimming with tears. Many of our friends are fighting in the war and protecting us now. And I believe they will help us to live it through. My whole surrounding my husband and friends supports us. It gives me a lot of hope that everything will end soon”. 

Mariana says that this war has changed her values. She always used to lack many things like money, beauty products, etc. But now, all the woman wants is peace. But now, she wants to wait for her baby and stroll peacefully along her beautiful Livoberezna district. But now, she wants to spend more time with her loved ones. But for now, the only dream she has is the end of the war. 

 

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