“I am very happy that my children are safe and do not have to experience the horrors of war, but the soul suffers for my country and my people”

On February 24, 2022, I woke up to my husband calling and saying, “It’s started.” I got very scared. Already in 2014, when the Russian army began to annex Crimea and Donbas, we lived in fear of “Russian Mir”. Three days earlier, my husband convinced me to pack all my things and move to my parents in Cherkassy. When the full-scale war started, I already had a plan for what I was going to do. Me, my children and my mother got into the car and drove to the Polish border. On the evening of February 24, we were in Lviv and then it took us 4 days to leave Ukraine. The road was very difficult, everyone wanted to get to a safe place as soon as possible. People slept and ate in the cars. It was cold and still winter. My little son, who was two years old at the time, got sick but I knew we had to go anyway. On 28 February we crossed the Polish border and already on 2 March we were in Sweden. My brother has already been living in Sweden for 10 years. Our first accommodation was at his house. I dreamed that everything would end quickly and that we could return to everything we left behind; namely our loved ones, my husband, my son and my father. But unfortunately the war is still going on. A month after we arrived in Sweden, we had to ask for help from the Migration Agency. We were placed in Härnösand where we now live and wait for the war to end. We try to send all our strength home so that our country wins. My husband and my eldest son, like all other conscious Ukrainians, are actively helping the Ukrainian army and the country, which brings victory closer. I am very happy that my children are safe and do not have to experience the horrors of war, but the soul suffers for my country and my people, and especially for those under Russian occupation.
I miss my country and my family very much. I strongly believe in our victory and I myself preserve our culture, our language and our values ​​even though I am 3000 kilometers from my home. My family from Ukraine has sent Ukrainian books for children and adults to Härnösand’s library. All Ukrainians who want to study in their native language can come there.