It all started on February 24, it was the birthday of my neighbor.. we woke up because of a powerful explosion, and just in case we collected things that caught our sight first, and then there was a lull .. We heard shots somewhere in the distance, it was scary, but I still continued working and believed that it would not affect me. 

 

We slept in the corridor, still hoping that everything would pass in a few days.

On March 1 the hell began, we didn’t sleep at all, houses of our neighbours were shelled and every 8-10 minutes something was burning, the sky turned orange, and the air stank of burning (the morning market was burning, neighbors’ houses, Bavaria shop). And then I realized that this would affect everyone, I went through my backpack, took creams and perfumes out of it and put 1.5 liters of water, some cookies, a flashlight, a knife, medicines and portable charger. I took a bag with things for the child, looked out the window, and asked: "It won’t fly at us, will it ..?" and a minute later before my eyes a column of dust and whitewash, the ceiling slid down and all the moldings fell off, a scream was heard. As it turned out, a shell flew into the adjacent apartment, pierced the roof, ceiling and floor up to the 8th floor (3 walls!) And made a panoramic view of the neighbors from below, the windows in the apartment flew out.

 

I grabbed the baby bag and ran downstairs, spitting whitewash out of my mouth. Frightened neighbors were crowded downstairs, we did not know what to do and decided go to our parents, who lived not far away. We threw stones from the roof of the car and drove off, avoiding the branches of the trees.

We parked in the middle of the yard and ran to the entrance as the volleys of Grad* were heard.

 

(*translator's note: The BM-21 "Grad" (Russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit. 'hail') is a Soviet truck-mounted 122 mm multiple rocket launcher.)

 

The shelling continued, my parents gave me a sedative, but it did not help much, we spent the whole day in the vestibule, rarely leaving it. There was a hit in a neighbor’s private house, then in a house nearby, two cars exploded, the roof of one flew off into a tree, the windows in our room were broken. Then grad hit the 6th floor of a 9-story building, which can be seen from the window. There was a terrible rattle and noise. The house was burning like a torch, no one extinguished it, the upper floors were burning all night.

 

I didn’t go to the windows .. fear made everything dark in my eyes, I felt sick and I thought that I would vomit. For two days I didn’t sleep and didn’t eat, my nerves began to fail and I said that we were here in a mass grave in this vestibule and we had to go to the basement.

 

We took old carpets, a mattress and a candle .. There was still a space for us  and I felt calmer despite the vibration and noise. I lost track of time, every day we woke up from the sound of flying shells.

Two neighbors died during that time, my heart could not stand it. People were buried in the front garden and near the house. Then frost began, the thermometer showed -12.5 С at night.

The basement was getting colder and colder. Another person died because of hypothermia. They did not allow him to be buried, because he didn’t have documents.

 

Every day we had to get firewood, water, the area around our house was shelled. It was getting scary in the basement.Because of the sound of a flying plane, it again began to darken in the eyes .. There was a hit in the house, the upper floors burned down and people died there, no one began to bury them either. It became more and more dangerous to go outside.

Street shootings began. It was impossible to replenish the supplies of water and firewood. Cooking outside was dangerous.

 

People of DPR (orig. – ДНР, a self-proclaimed state entity located in the internationally recognized territories of Ukraine.) settled in our house. They checked the men, every apartment and basement. They said not to be afraid, and that the aircraft would not shoot at us. It turned out that in the opposite house was a sniper from Azov.

 

A special detachment was brought in and ran to the rooftops with mine-throwers. We and the residents of the 12-story building were herded into the basement and told not to go out. A terrible shootout began.

 

Then there was a lull. People went out into the street and three shells flew into our yard, killed 1 military man, 1 resident of the house, wounded 2 more military men, stunned the rest and cut them with shrapnel.

 

Everyone was terrified. Then we were told that Kadyrovtsy (tr. note - their leader is Ramzan Kadyrov, president of Chechen Republic) drove into the end of the house (in the store) to destroy a sniper, who seemed to have been destroyed, but .. another sniper took this position.

I decided that by any means it was necessary to escape from here.

 

We did not know how to leave, because the shelling was almost neverending. At our own peril and risk, we tied white towels on the cars, loaded the bags, and on the morning of March 17 drove out in a column of 7 cars.

 

It was calm, we got into cars and drove downhill to Orlyonok (children’s summer camp), then the shelling began, the cars barely drove up the stairs, time dragged on ..

 

On the descent, poplars and fir trees were knocked down, we got out of the car so that they drove around the curbs and alleys. I saw black destroyed houses, corpses lay near the fence, a shot and overturned white minibus ..

 

Finally, everyone moved down and we drove on. The road was full of potholes, craters, branches. We drove through Vinogradnoye village, and in Pionersky district we were registered and checked by the military in the Severny camp, then we went to Sopino village, at the checkpoints there was also a check and a search of things.

 

While driving, I saw the destroyed Leningradsky district, the Church of Michael the Archangel, and the worst thing was a column of vehicles marked "Z". And then I understood the scale, I was afraid for the parents and relatives who remained. The was no connection since March 2, it was impossible to inform/ warn them to escape at any cost.

 

We stayed in Bezymenny village for 1.5 days, sleeping in a sitting position in a local club. We were looking for familiar faces there, then met neighbors from the entrance that who walked to the checkpoint in Vinogradnoye village and were taken out by bus, they said their parents were the only ones who left. Again, the unknown: did they mad ot or not ..

 

On March 19, my parents found us by themselves as they were standing with their neighbors at the registration in Bezymyanny. They said they miraculously escaped.

On the night we left, they were locked in the basement and told not to come out. They couldn’t fall asleep because of the shelling, in the morning the DPR people said that they would leave and they also had to leave.

 

Parents packed their things .. the car was in the garage. As it turned out, there was a hit in the opposite garage and ours was blocked with the gates. My dad and a neighbor pulled them away .. the locks were bent by an explosive wave, they barely opened the door. It's good that the car was intact.

 

When they drove out to the yards for my mother and a neighbor, the shelling began again. They ran into the store and the four of them hid in the freezer. They heard tank noises and automatic bursts, a shootout began .. the minutes dragged on, there was a fear of losing the car and staying in the city. Suddenly there was silence, dad went behind the wheel and slowly drove downhill, mom and neighbors ran/crawled, they heard bullets whistling.

 

They went down, there was another tank, dad turned on the emergency gang and drove slowly. They said goodbye to life several times .. I burst into tears .. I'm so glad they survived.

 

15 people from the house who left on the 19th did not reach the checkpoint, as it turned out - they got under fire and no one survived.

 

Until now, tremors in the hands and pain in the heart .. Surving all this horror that never seemed to end .. seeing the destruction of your hometown, your houses, apartments .. seeing so many deaths and saying goodbye every time you count to 5 after volleys of heavy guns .. here it is Russian roulette.

 

We survived, but the future is unknown ..