Illustrated by Liubov Miau
“My mother died. Because of a projectile. Six days ago. And I’m so far away from my family,” says 22-year-old Yulia Yashnikova. A month and a half ago she flew to Thailand. The war caught her there.
On March 3, at 12:15 am Kyiv time, the projectile fell on School 21 in Chernihiv, where Yulia`s entire family was staying: her mother, father, brother and aunt. “My brother was in a shelter, and my mother, father and aunt decided to go out for some reason and talk about their future plans. At that moment I was riding a jet ski at the sea. When I was putting a life jacket on here in Thailand, an explosion occurred in Chernihiv and my mother died. I was staring at the sunset and couldn’t understand what was wrong. I was fine, but something felt off. I found out that my mom has died only the next day”.
One of the last messages that Yulia`s mother wrote to her reads:
“They can’t kill everyone, only those who are destined to die. But I will live. Lilac will bloom soon”
At first, Yulia learned that the school had been bombed. Then someone told her that her mother and father were in the hospital. But it turned out that only her father and aunt were there, her mother wasn’t.
“Dad got in touch with me and said that he didn’t know where mom was. Nobody knew where mom was. He was crying, and I couldn’t understand why.”
The search for Yulia’s mother lasted through the evening and the whole night. In the morning Yulia fell asleep, and when she woke up, she said — she understood everything.
“It’s like opening a basement and finding the truth there. In my head, I lay down next to my mom on the ground. In Chernihiv, they were still waiting for the end of the curfew to check another hospital. But I already seemed to feel that my mom was near. She seemed to take my hand… And disappeared. Then I understood everything.”
Yulia’s mother was found in the morgue, identified by her clothes and a wedding ring. “Dad wasn’t shown her face. When the projectile hit the building, my mom was standing close to the window.”
“My mother is in heaven, and my family is in hell. And I am seven thousand kilometers away,” — the girl says.
The next day, Yulia gathered all her strength and directed it to the evacuation of her family — those who survived. When they were safe, she exhaled with relief.
