The testimonies from Ukraine, which were sent to the APE by people who lived through the horrors of the war, are shocking.
Testimonies that capture the images that stigmatized them for the rest of their lives.
Pedro: “The horror has watered our lives”
Petros is 73 years old and together with his wife Nina they live from the first day of the horror of the war in Hersonissos where they remain.
“In Hersonissos there is nothing but death, blood, damaged military vehicles and ruins. Horror has watered our lives. The lives of ordinary people. Peaceful people and workers. Oh! “How much sadness and pain these days have brought us ”.
“No one can imagine how difficult it is to sever daily obligations and habits and immediate human needs under the regime of terror and death.
“Our work has stopped. Our life has stopped. Most of the industries, hospitals, banks, post offices and shops, bakeries, bus stations and train stations, have stopped working. Even the markets stopped working.
“Men and women spend a lot of time in line to buy food: bread, vegetables, medicine.”
As Peter confirms the extreme food and humanitarian crisis Ukraine finds itself in:
“Supermarkets are empty, most medicines are not available. Those who need hospital care cannot get it as most hospitals are closed. “All businesses are idle, resources are running out and disappearing and this is leading people to black pessimism and despair”.
“Above all: The deafening explosions of bombs and rockets, the whistle of bullets and the loud explosions of shells. The need to hide in shelters or wherever possible to escape the bombs. “All of this makes our lives dangerous, futile, miserable and humiliating.”
“Knowing that the bloody tragedy continues and that many people are being killed and injured makes our hearts bleed and shrink and our minds are exhausted by disgust, but also by the pessimistic thought that we will be next.”
“Many families have been separated. Many of my fellow citizens have been displaced from the country. Refugees in East and West. “They are leaving their homes and jobs, leaving the poor and disabled so that they may meet the fate of the victims of war “.
“People with health problems are forced to suspend their treatments. The miserable pensions of the elderly are not enough for food, as prices have risen unpredictably.”
“A miserable life, resentments, hostile looks in the queue, forgotten expectations and dreams. We are like dismantled mechanisms without hope and a place to be repaired.”
What is he thinking about? “I am trying to live. I have no explanation. Why should this happen to us? Has the Lord forsaken us forever?
Valentine: “Three days down the stairs to be saved”
Valentina describes the difficult moments under the stairs.
“The first bombs fell in Ukraine on February 24 at 4:00 p.m. At that time we were in Boutsa. The explosions woke us up. Nearby, Hostomel airport was attacked. A Ukrainian plane parked there was destroyed by the explosion. We endured the attacks and fires for three days, hiding in fear under the stairs of our house. “On the third day, when we learned that Butsa was about to be occupied and we learned that the Chechen soldiers were going to attack, we decided to get the children out of the city.
“We thought about leaving for a few days until everything calmed down. We spent the first two days in Vinica, but the sirens and bombs kept going off and we headed to Lviv, where our relatives offered us free shelter. We have lived here for three weeks. And we don’t know how much more. Rental prices have doubled. Renting a small apartment now costs more than 1,000 euros. However, we decided to stay in Lviv, since here I found a place to give birth and we can live for free. We live together as four adults and two children together, while I will soon be giving birth to my third child.”
anastasia n..: I can’t believe this evil is happening”
“From the first moment, the horrible feeling of war came immediately: I was terrified. I never imagined that something like this could happen to us. That I will have to run to hide from the bombing to save my own life and that of my unborn child. ” I can’t believe that this is happening”. Muddy Anastasia, 21 years old – eight months pregnant – refugee, speaks to APE-MPE, after she managed to reach Greece with great difficulty and danger due to the bombing of Hersonissos.
The friends of the Ukrainians who host her in Attica help her find doctors, but also everything she needs to give birth safely in the next month, but also to acquire regularity in her daily life. Is not easy. Her husband, also 21, is back in the Ukraine. A young entrepreneur, in his early days, was forced to close his business in Hersonissos, leave his home and leave his young wife.
“My beloved husband and many of my relatives remained in the occupied territories of Ukraine. “I am very worried about them,” says Anastasia N..
“The people of Hersonissos ran out of food, medicine, money. People are being killed every day, everything is very scary. “I feel desperate because I am not with my family at the moment,” the young refugee usually says, while try to control your feeling.
Her namesake Anastasia K., a 39-year-old mother of two who has lived and worked in Attica for three years, is hosting her.
Anastasia K..: “shaking”
“My parents and my brother are still in Ukraine. The first week the war broke out. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t sleep. I was trying to stay in touch with my family and coordinate the delivery of medical supplies and essential items,” he says. Anastasia K., who has lived in Attica for three years and hosts Anastasia N.
My friends ask me: “Are you okay? Are yours okay?” Unfortunately I answer “No”. I know that all of them are really interested, but they can’t lift or understand the weight of my answer, although I get a lot of strength from my two sons and my Greek friends. But it gives me more strength and courage the courage of my young friend Anastasia, with whom we have been living lately and that she will soon give birth to her baby.
“I take a lot of courage from my friend Valentina, at home, also pregnant, who managed to escape the shelling and shooting in Bhutsa and now from Lviv, risking her life, has found the courage to coordinate humanitarian missions to help the people left behind in the occupied territories.
I take courage from my brother and my parents Nina and Petros, who are standing up against the catastrophe in Hersonissos. These are rare cases of people who show how proud and strong the Ukrainian people are. Through this tragedy we will come out strong.
We will do it. We will once again enjoy our people, the beautiful nature, the clear sky and the green meadows of my country in peace.”
source: iefi merida
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