Anya comes from Odesa, Alyona comes from Kramatorsk, Natasha comes from Kharkiv, Galya comes from Irpin! We went to bed in a turbulent, but relatively peaceful life, and the war woke us up.
It doesn't matter what dreams we had and what happened a minute before waking up. The main thing is an instantaneous movement, in the still dark dawn, from plans and hopes, into the abyss of fear and despair. It feels like getting from a warm summer into an icy cold.
Even in my sleep, I heard bangs and explosions. It's impossible to get used to it even in eight years, but fear, like an old pain, has dulled. And then the editor Galya sent a message to the group chat: "Everybody, wake up!".
It became clear that something terrible had started around me. It was growing to the sky. Blind iron death flew from there, like acid rain. It was brought by the most vile and evil dwarf dictator, a cynical and insane killer and maniac. He has already been cursed by millions of people and after them, the curses will echo ten times more.
It is very scary to be inside the war. People are like children who got lost in a gloomy forest. In the morning, in a small village near Mariupol, an adult woman, like a child, sobbed over a destroyed house and her miraculous salvation. Whoever sent this projectile at her is also a murderer. It does not see its victim, but this doesn’t change a thing.
In the morning, my brother's wife was getting my little nephews ready to the sounds of shelling. They were afraid and were being naughty. The children were sitting on stools in the corridor in jackets and hats with huge bags in their hands. These are their go bags. The kindest dog in the world, also very scared, was laying at their feet. All together they left the huge high-rise building for the basement of a single-family home. It's safer there during the shelling. They are afraid to return home.
We monitored the reports and rejoiced at every small victory of our soldiers. We listened to the distant battle and mentally tried to help the best army in the world. Fair and brave, strong and bright. We sent them rays of hope, faith and kindness.
And we also talked to each other in the group chat. There was a roll call every hour. We, as if in the darkness, groped for close people: "Kharkiv, how are you? Odesa, Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk, Kherson, Mariupol? How is it there?"
We were scared, we are scared now, but we cope with this fear and throw it far into the space, into a black hole. In the same way, we will kick aggressive and vile invaders out of our land. They have no idea how strong we are.
February 24 at 9:40pm
Russian Text by Nadezhda Sukhorukova, translated into English by Ukrainianvancouver team – Mar 24, 2022
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