Women in need

In Mariupol, I lost my husband, my apartment and my dreams of a happy future for our family. I have two children, and as a result of several months of living in horrors and constant stress, their health has deteriorated significantly.

I live alone in Toretsk district, which is a frontline area. My husband died of Covid two years ago, and I still can't talk about it without tears and pain. My daughter has not been in touch for six months, I have problems with my joints and heart, so I have not been working for the last few years. There is no water or gas in our village, so I can't take care of my garden, which used to feed me a little, and I only have enough energy to fetch water to wash and drink.‍

She spent six months in the basement of her house in Toretsk, hiding with the guy who got her pregnant, and when it was discovered, he disappeared. Lilia gave birth because she had been trying to have children for 7 years without success, and when she got pregnant, which she no longer believed in, she was happy despite the war conditions. But her house was eventually destroyed by shelling, and she and her 7-month-old child rented a shed without conditions in Novomyrhorod (Kirovohrad region) for 1,000 hryvnias a month, and the owner of this microscopic building is evicting her because he wants to sell the land.‍

During the occupation of the village of Ruskovozova, Kharkiv region, Olena and her nephews moved to Staroviivka. At that time, a Russian shell hit the house where the woman's entire family was staying, including the mother of her nephews and Olena's sister. Everyone was killed, and the house burned down along with the property. The children's father has been living with another woman for a long time, taking money for the children as a single parent and thus evading the army, although he avoids and ignores the children.‍

The full-scale invasion caught me and my granddaughter on the left bank of Kherson. During the occupation, the Russian military took everything valuable that we had, even taking out the plastic windows. We were evacuated to the right bank after the Kakhovka dam was blown up, and we sat on the roof of our house for three days.

I live in a dormitory without gas in Verkhnodniprovsk. My husband died of a stroke, and in a month I need to have my thyroid gland removed because a certain amount of tumors prevent me from breathing, and it is progressing rapidly. I can't move around because of acute osteoarthritis, and my pension of 3,000 hryvnias goes to pay for the utilities of the dormitory.