War. Stories from Ukraine

Ukrainians tell stories about their life during the war

“We lost our dreams within just a day”, – Lia, 32, Chernihiv–Warsaw

by | 18 March 2022 | War. Stories from Ukraine

 

Illustrated by Tanya Guschina

 

Lia Pavliuk is 32. At home, in Chernihiv, she was a trichologist: she had her own clinic offering hair and scalp treatments. Lia’s family includes her two daughters, her husband, her grandma and her seriously ill grandpa.

 

“We had dreams, a stable income, a house, a family nearby. And we lost it all in one day,” says Lia. She found out about the war a day before the Russian invasion, in the evening of February 23. Her acquaintances texted her that huge numbers of military vehicles were gathering on the Ukrainian border in Belarus and asked her to leave the city. A section of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border is located in the Chernihiv Region.

 

“My family and friends made fun of me, saying that it wasn’t true, nothing would happen. Because Belarusians are our brothers. It’s just a military exercise,” recalls Lia. The next morning, Russian troops were heading towards Chernihiv.

 

Lia and her husband took the kids, put on whatever was lying around on the chairs, took her grandma and her disabled grandpa. As they were leaving the city, they heard sirens and explosions behind them. Her husband traveled with them to Lviv. And then they left for Poland without him, because Ukraine has banned men aged 18–60 from leaving the country under martial law.

 

 

Crossing the border took them three days. The cars were slowly crawling in the line, they could travel as little as half a meter in two hours. Her grandpa was out of breath and delirious. Lia tried to take him across the border faster, but other people weren’t letting her, saying “Everybody really needs it,” yelling, punching the hood of her car. People were also making little fires to warm up. Lia was driving and didn’t sleep at all those three days.

 

 

Now the woman is safe, she and her family are hosted by a Polish family in Warsaw. They have food and shelter, her grandpa has been provided with medical care and drugs. The kids even smile sometimes. Lia doesn’t. Almost all of her friends and relatives are still in Chernihiv and other Ukrainian cities.

“When I see the destruction of buildings which I just visited a few days ago, when I receive photos of dead bodies and videos of people, children in basements, it’s horrible. It shatters my heart to pieces,” cries Lia.

To calm down at least a little, the woman helps people who also want to leave the country. As soon as the war ends, she plans to go back to Ukraine and rebuild her city.

 

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