I’m Crimean Tatar. In May 1944 my grandparents were forcefully moved out of Crimea to Uzbekistan. That is why my parents lived in Uzbekistan where I was born. When I was 3, my faily moved to Kherson region in Ukraine. I grew up and studied in Kherson region, graduated from Crimean Engineering-Pedagogical University in 2009, married another Crimean Tatar and gave birth to two children. My husband Elimdar was born in Uzbekistan as well, the fate of his family was the same as mine.

Prior to the war, we both worked with my husband - I had a service job, his work was related to construction. Despite his desability, he never evaded working. Our daughter is now ten and our son is seven. 

Since the work broke off we lost out jobs. After three months we have used all our savings. The sowing campain has not started, the food we can get is solely from Crimea and very expensive. Some of our fellow villagers left for Crimea. We can’t do this since we are afraid of russian repressive measures towards Crimean Tatars on the peninsula. We cannot leave the territory under occupation either: on the checkpoints men undergo so-called ‘filtration’ where they’re stripped, examined, beaten and often detained. I do not want to leave my husband alone under the occupation.

We barely leave the yard of our house - it is dangerous. The occupants are patrolling the streets, entering the houses of those whose relatives took part in the Joint Forces Operation in the east and the houses where civil activists and local authorities dwell. People are disappearing. Neither the Administrative Services Centre, nor the local council work here. In April we received two thousand hryvnias from the state which was my husbands disability pension. And so, we’re trying to get by on this. The humanitarian aid from Ukraine isn’t allowed. Some aid came from Crimea, but is was given out to those who provided their personal information. We didn’t go there, neither did most of the able-bodied villagers. Only the elderly women queued to get the aid. We are very sorry for them. However, we do not want to find favour with the enemy and give them our personal details. We are waiting for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to liberate us.

Now we are asking Ukrainians to help us go through this tough time. I will be able to buy food from the village shops - some still have their POS terminals in order, the others ask to transfer money to their bank account. There are a few people who exchange virtual money for the cash, with a 10% commission. I have no idea how they bring cash into the occupied territory, but from time to time it is possible to get some cash from them.

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