The Parish Magazine June 2022

THE WAR IN UKRAINE — 2
from page 23 Stuart, his friends and family
had sent money for the refugees
which meant, when I arrived in Lviv, I
would be able to buy tickets to Poland
for those without money, as well as
medicines, food and clothes.
In Lviv, I stayed one night in the
volunteer centre where so many people
came to us. Everyone wanted to tell
their story. They cried. I knew that
I must be strong to help, this is my
mission. This is why I went to Lviv.
Apartment rents were very high, so
I lived in a volunteer centre with the
migrants. There was no place to stay
alone, there were people all around.
There was cold water in the shower
and it was terribly hard to wash. But I
didn’t think about comfort, although
inside I wanted to run away and hide.
HELPING EACH OTHER
Then I found a way to unload. I
went to the kitchen to help and I met
many people. I was glad to help, I was
glad to see happy people, they were
filled with grateful hearts. With each
person I wanted to do more.
I made friends with the military
who helped me find an apartment at
a good price, they drove me home, I
am very grateful to them. I helped
someone. Someone helped me. It was
nice to see Ukrainians, helping each
other.
There was no time for photos or
videos. Everything happened fast.
The volunteer centre was closed
so I decided to do everything by
myself. Thanks to friends, I began
humanitarian aid by sending goods
to cities in Ukraine. Migrants staying
with me overnight received food and
medicine. Many came from the occupied
territories. They were exhausted, and
frightened. It's impossible to put into
words what I felt when seeing these
people. I slept 2 hours a day for about
a month. Then came burnout, fatigue,
sometimes I didn’t want to do anything.
FOUR SHORT STORIES
ALEXANDER PECHALOV: 34 years
old, he was wounded by shrapnel in the
leg. His courage, and love for Ukraine,
bring tears and my respect. He is not
only my friend, but my example. I pray
for him and wait for victory to come,
so that I can see him and just hug. On
Facebook, Alexander maintains his
page, where he talks about his days,
shares his thoughts. You can subscribe,
Александр Печалов, and write words
Masha's friend, Alexander Pechalov, signed up
for service a year before the war started.
of support. Every military man needs
support. From his Facebook page came
the following . . .
MILITARY QUOTES
— 'And those who come to us with weapons,
we will send straight to hell.'
— 'In every broken window, blown up house,
I see thousands and thousands of lives now
filled with horror, grief and despair.'
— 'I want my children not to know war. To do
this, I will teach them to negotiate and teach
them to hit in the teeth, I will teach them
diplomacy and how to shoot an AK, I will
teach them history and the importance in
defending their freedom.
— 'I cannot look at the destroyed Mariupol,
at the bodies of raped women, at the
killed civilians, at the funerals of Ukrainian
defenders...'
— 'But 2 months ago, life, not blood, was in full
swing in our cities.'
— 'And all this happened with your tacit
consent. Each of you who is silent is
responsible for the death of my people.'
— 'Putin is an expression of the desires and
aspirations of the Russian people, and not
vice versa.'
— 'This war tempers the Ukrainians as a nation,
and finally turns the Russians into slaves.'
— 'In Ukraine they say "Slaves are not allowed
in heaven!'
GALINA MIKHAILOVNA from
Kharkov, 67 years old: She lived in a
volunteer centre, her son is in New
Zealand. She had nowhere to go.
In Kharkov, she left a three room
apartment. Her husband died, they
had lived together for 40 years. The
house was subsequently bombed and
she lived there for about a month,
before arriving with me.
She wanted to find somewhere
she could be useful, but no one found
work for her because we were all busy.
She lay in the room and waited for
someone to come to talk, as I often did.
The Parish Magazine - June 2022 25
We went for a walk and she constantly
said, 'Masha, why do you need me?
I'm old, you're so young, it would be
better if you spent time on yourself'.
But I enjoyed taking care of her. She
wanted to get a haircut in an ordinary
hairdressing salon, in order to feel the
usual peaceful life, so we went to the
hairdressing salon. She cried so much
from happiness, and this made me
insanely happy. I sent her to Turkey,
where her son's friend lives.
TANYA AND FOUR CHILDREN
Pisky village, Chernihiv: Someone in
the village said there was a corridor
so we started to leave. Russian troops
stopped us, putting a machine gun to
our heads. I told them, I have children.
They searched us, took our phones and
let us go. At that moment, my heart
sank into my heels, I thought that was
all we had. We had no electricity, we
cooked in the street on a fire. It was so
cold at home, we slept in the pantry.
MARINA, 35 years old, Mariupol:
My husband died in the war. I stayed
with the children and lost contact
with relatives. Shops were looted,
pharmacies were closed. We sat in
the basement for two weeks and did
not go out. Stocks were running out,
there was nothing to replenish them.
We slept on the cold floor, there was a
terrible cobweb and darkness around.
I just wanted to see the sun. I had to
go out to get food for the children,
corpses and civilians lay on the streets.
Children constantly asked: 'Mom, are
we going to die?' At my entrance there
were volunteers who gave us food
and helped us get out of this hell. The
children are crying, they are vomiting,
our house is gone, we have nothing else.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
— The war has changed the heart of
every Ukrainian.
— Ukrainians united.
— It will never be like before.
— We have learned to appreciate, we
have learned to love, to forgive.
— Everything has become important
now and you need to live now.
— The war will end, but there are no
winners.
— The war destroyed our entire life.
— The war taught us to hate the
enemy and wish for death.
— I know one thing, we will not
forgive Russia for taking our lives!
— Thank you to the world for your
support, thank you for hosting
us in your homes, thank you for
not remaining indifferent!