Hello friends, Thank you for your donations and messages. Th..

Hello friends, Thank you for your donations and messages. There was no opportunity and strength to answer in person. I want to share with you my story. A month has passed since Russia launched a devastating invasion throughout Ukraine. 8 years ago, Russia occupied Crimea and launched military actions in two regions, and today there're explosions, killings of civilians throughout Ukraine. I am just now beginning to adapt to new living conditions, with the constant sounds of shelling and explosions. I wake up and fall asleep under the air alarm. The other day I managed to relax and wash away my fear and tension for at least half an hour. I took a picture to remember those feelings. I try to notice and capture everything beautiful that surrounds me. On February 24, the whole country woke up at 5 am from rocket attacks. It was very scary, I had a panic attack and I couldn't move for a while. Then I began to pack the most necessary things - documents, a few warm clothes, a first aid kit, some food, water, pet's food. I didn't know if my house would be safe enough to stay there. And I still don't know. While standing, I hope that after the victory I will be able to return to my small, but such a cozy apartment. And I believe that Ukraine will win, we are defending our lands, and we have the most motivated army in the world. Official websites began to publish information on what to do to keep the house safe - to seal the windows, cover them with furniture, remove all the mirrors and put them on the floor. Make a residential module where at least 2 walls separate you from the street, but the bathroom is not suitable - from a powerful explosion you can cut the tiles, which will break into small pieces. In my case, it could only be a dressing room, which is about 1.5 square meters. We covered the floor with blankets, moved food, drinking water, necessary stuff and animals to that place. Living in a small corner for a couple, three cats and a dog is not easy, but it was safer there than in other parts of the apartment. That's how we lived for a week. In the afternoon, when there was no air alarm, we went to another part of the apartment, cooked food, drank tea, cleaned, went to the shower. Every day the air alarm sounds about 10 times a day. You need to sit in the shelter for an hour, sometimes several hours. If there is an air alarm, it means that a Russian plane is flying over Ukraine, and can launch missiles or drop bombs, or missiles are flying at us from the territory of Russia, Belarus, or Russian ships. The first week we stayed at home. I was so afraid to leave the city, as the cars of regular people were shot at with machine guns, tanks, artillery fire. There are many evacuation trains, but there is too much people, and I was afraid that I would be not allowed to take 4 animals. I don't want to leave them, so I decided to stay at home. After 7 days, the fighting became more fierce, approaching the town on the outskirts of Kiev, where I live. The Russian army is shooting civilians, looting houses, shops, and humanitarian aid. Tortures for fun, rapes women, kills children. We decided to go to Kyiv, where it is safer, there is an opportunity to hide in a shelter that was not in my village. It was no longer safe at home, even with the windows sealed and behind two walls - 500 kg bombs were dropped on residential buildings, destroying the house completely. Russian troops have seized and bombed two nuclear power plants, and president putin is threatening nuclear missiles and chemical weapons. Uses high-explosive, phosphorus, cluster bombs and much more that prohibited by international conventions. In 28 days, Russia launched 1,200 missiles into Ukraine. We moved to the building of the old research institute, which has the bomb shelter. Many people already lived in the bomb shelter, so we settled in a production room in the basement of the same building. The basement was covered with various rubbish stuff. We disassembled it, cleaned it, moved everything to another room, and equipped a cozy room. Anyway it was dirty and cold, the temperature in the room was +10 - +15 I had to sleep dressed to keep warm, and if a rocket hits our building, I can run outside immediately without wasting time looking for pants or a sweater. We were lucky, a few days later we had a heater that could warm the room before sleep. Due to the possibility of fire, the heater had to be turned off during sleep, and in the morning you could turn it on again. In the afternoon, when it was safe to go out, we went to visit my parents, who live near the shelter, took a shower, washed things, cooked food. It is forbidden to go outside after 8 pm, as there are sabotage groups in the city that attack civilians and prepare terrorist attacks. Sometimes a curfew is imposed for a day and a half. Sabotage groups are found and arrested daily by the police, but Russia has been preparing this invasion for a long time, and has managed to prepare quite a few terrorists. Some of them lived for months in our cities and was waiting for their time. So we lived there for another 2 weeks. I started to go out more often, to the store or the pharmacy, volunteering, helping those in need. I really wanted to go home. The basement drags on, and you feel depressed. I realized that in current situation you need to adapt and make your environment more comfortable and safer to stay. Every day several missile strikes are carried out in Kyiv, destroying houses, shops and shopping malls. Fortunately, there is almost no fighting in the city, only attacks by saboteurs. The Russian military will not surround Kyiv. It is a strong place with strong inhabitants, all standing on defense, or reliably providing for the needs of the army and the inhabitants of the city. I began dreaming of returning to work. This would allow me to be distracted, earn money - pay taxes, utilities, rent an office, and give a little peace and joy to my clients. Traffic in the city is limited, so I often walk 10-15 km a day. When I get really tired, I take a taxi. Compared to the first week, taxi prices have stabilized, and you can get to the right place on a relatively budget. I didn't have enough personal space in the basement, so my husband and I decided to move to a studio where I rent an office. Many masters left the city or the country, so we have an opportunity to live here by ourselves. We bought an air mattress, set up one of the rooms, left the other for work. There is no kitchen or shower in the studio, but a friend who lives nearby gave us the keys to her apartment. In the afternoon we come to take a shower and cook. In the studio, the windows are closed with shutters from the outside, so I hope this will allow us to be safe in case of shelling. Especially near the subway, which is a reliable shelter. By the way, many people have been living simply at metro stations for a month now, as their homes are damaged and uninhabitable. I'm still lucky. We are alive, our city is not destroyed yet, we have everything necessary for life - water, light, food. My house is not damaged, and once a week I can go there for necessary things and water the flowers. I am very scared to get under fire, to be taken prisoner, to suffer from a rocket attack, but this is my favorite city, the heart of Ukraine, and I do not want to leave it. I will be here to the last, if necessary I will defend it until the last minute of my life. I want to live, travel, love myself and my body, wear beautiful lingerie, eat delicious food, have fun, be free. There are strong people in Ukraine who will defend their independence, their land, their cities. Many men and women volunteered to join the armed forces to fight the genocide of the Ukrainian people. This is exactly what is happening now - the Russian military is destroying entire cities, killing thousands of people, torturing them, preventing them from delivering humanitarian aid to areas where people have been without food, water and medicine for weeks. We are all united, and everyone is doing their best to help each other. Mariupol is our pain. What is happening there is worse than the Nazi mockery of World War II. The Russian media is so zombie-stricken that even my father, who lives in the temporarily occupied territories and supports the Putin regime, did not believe me. In Russia, they say that it is forbidden to speak Russian in Ukraine, but I have been speaking Russian all my life, and no one blames me for that, in any part of my country. Russia says a lot, but it's all made up. Invented to justify the evil they have done to us. And they openly say what they plan to do to other countries in Europe and the world. For years, Russia has been raising a herd that is no longer able and willing to think for itself, instilling alcohol and hatred. You've all heard of Russian vodka, haven't you? Nowadays, information is also a weapon. I hope you found my story interesting and you were able to imagine and live some moments with me. I want you to know that every Ukrainian man and woman dreams of living freely in their country, as you live. I attached a photo from our everyday life. I will not show you the destruction of our cities, wounded people, killed children. Because it's scary. I want to share with you a part of myself, my life.