“Women in war, on the paths of those who remain” photo exhibition

When we talk about the life of a country during the war, we look at the fate of its civilians. The needs they face and the support and solidarity they can show in an emergency situation. On February 24, 2022, and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lives of millions of civilians suddenly changed in Ukraine. One year after, approximately 17,6 million civilians need humanitarian assistance, 5,1 million had to flee their homes to find a safer place in Ukraine and more than 6,2 million are refugees abroad.

In Ukraine, women represent more than the half of the internally displaced persons and 90% of the refugees abroad. Their access to livelihood opportunities, health, mental health and protection support has been severely disrupted increasing their vulnerability. Many stayed, many had to leave, many decided to get involved in the humanitarian sector to support others in Ukraine or elsewhere. One could say that women are the face of the war, those who need support and those who give support.

We follow the paths of those who need our assistance, in collective shelters, in cities, in rural areas, and of those who have decided to commit themselves to supporting others. That is why we have named our intervention in Ukraine Dorijka, which stands for “paths” in Ukrainian. In this exhibition, you will see the journeys of these women in the regions of Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Kharkiv. Every story you hear here is part of their reality.

Data: OCHA, 27/09/23 2; UNHCR, 26/09/23; UN Women, 04/05/23

Photographers: Katya Moskalyuk, Myriam Renaud

This audio-visual product is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the US Foreign Assistance. The contents are the responsibility of Dorijka consortium and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government.

Nataliia, Hrakove

I come from Hrakove, a village in the region of Kharkiv. My husband and I were teachers in the village school.

On February 26th, 2022, Russian troops entered our village and on February 27th we left. We took a bag; I took two dresses, and my husband wore casual clothes to work in the yard. We crossed the fields to the next village. There was bombing and I was afraid there might be mines. On April 12th, we managed to evacuate the village to Kharkiv. We stayed there for two weeks, I was very scared of all the explosions. My daughter, who had moved from Kyiv to Horodenka in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk with her two children, said to me “Mum, let’s leave this place”, and so we arrived there on April 28th. I have been here for over a year. We live together in my daughter’s apartment.

On April 2nd, 2022, our neighbor called to tell us that our roof was on fire. The house, the summer kitchen, the barns, everything was reduced to ashes. Here, we received humanitarian aid, we received government aid, but you know, we have lost everything, now we have no farm, no family garden. We also used to raise goats. Here we hike, we walk, but there is no joy in our souls.

Olha, Dnipro

For me, the war started much earlier than in February 2022. I have been working in the field of humanitarian aid since 2015. I traveled along the entire front line at that time, and I lived in many cities: Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk, Kurakhove, Pokrovsk, Mariinka and others. Unfortunately, there is nothing left of Mariinka, not a single building …

I realized that there would be a full-scale war, and the period of waiting and escalation was very difficult for me. On February 24th, I was at home in Dnipro. My parents and friends live here, and we did not think about leaving. I have been a member of volunteer initiatives in Dnipro since 2014, so I immediately joined to help. Then I was offered a job in an international organization. I have been working in humanitarian aid for many years to help people. I have no illusions about war, and I knew exactly what kind of work awaited me.

Svitlana, Vyshneve

I was born in the village of Vyshneve, got married and moved to Balakliia, in the region of Kharkiv. I live here with my husband, and we have two sons. One of them works here as an electrician.

We lived from day to day when the city was under temporary military control of the Russian Federation, we did not plan anything, we just waited.

I am a floral designer. I love flowers, I have rose bushes outside my windows, and I have lots of flowers at home.

Oksana, Izium

I am 49 years old. I have lived in Izium all my life. Our little town of Izium, in the region of Kharkiv, began to be bombed on February 25th, 2022. The bridges were shelled, so that we on the left bank of the river were cut off from the rightbank. We had no gas or electricity.

When the Russian Army entered my house, I moved in with my friend on March 6th. We lived in a neighbor’s basement, in a bath house. We only went out to fetch water from the well. We heated the bath house and baked bread at night using the wood heat, because we had to feed the children.

We left the city in April, with two children, two cats and two dogs. We had to pass through checkpoints on the highway to Kharkiv, but they would not let us through because there was fighting, so we left the highway for the village of Hnylytsia, then to Kupiansk, from Kupiansk to Lyman, from Lyman to Dnipro, then to Kropyvnytskyi, and finally to Ivano-Frankivsk.

On April 12th, I reached my grandparent’s house in the region of Ivano-Frankivsk. I took with me my embroidery equipment, which has been my hobby since childhood.

Olessia, Saint Petersburg, Przemyśl

I am originally from Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region. 2014 was a terrible year for me: my father died of a heart attack at work, and a week later my grandmother died of cancer. Against the backdrop of the difficult situation in the country, my personal tragedy was taking place. I was 16 years old then, and I already knew what war was.

On February 24, 2022, I was in St. Petersburg. In 2018, I got married and moved to Russia. I lived there for more than four years, but I was studying at a university in Kyiv and came back for exams, to see my family and friends. When the full-scale invasion began, I tried to convince my husband to leave Russia. He decided to stay there, so after a while we had to divorce. My heart was breaking from watching the news every day and the desire to act, so on May 26, I left for Poland, the city of Przemysl. I immediately joined humanitarian organizations to help civilians from Ukraine.

I lived in Poland for almost a year, and then, realizing that I could be more useful in Ukraine, I moved to Kharkiv and joined a humanitarian organization here.

Iryna, Poltava

I was born and raised in Poltava. On February 24, 2022, at about 6 a.m., my father called me and said: “Pack your things, the war has started.” At that time, I had no idea what war was. Only later I realized that for me it was about fear and pain, when not only people suffer, but everything around suffers too.

I knew that I might not return home for some time, so I took warm clothes with me, put a few sets of clothes and a dress in a small suitcase, took some snacks, documents, and some old family photos. They were taken with an old film camera, so they cannot be restored and could be lost only once. I went to my sister, who also lived in Poltava, and stayed there until early March.

Later we started thinking that we might have to leave, because Russian troops were coming closer every day from the Sumy region, and Kharkiv region was also under fire. At that time, there was no other plan. Friends in Chernivtsi suggested us a place to stay. The journey, which usually takes 12 hours, took three days. We traveled without fear and with the hope of finding a safe place, and we realized that it was necessary.

At the end of March, I left Ukraine and moved to my friends in Poland, where I started to work with local volunteer and humanitarian organizations. However, I returned a few months later. I wanted to help my country and I was most useful at home. I got this opportunity with one of the international humanitarian organizations. Now Lviv is my home.

Tetiana, Mariupol

We left Mariupol on March 15th, 2022. We arrived in Zaporizhzhia, where my eldest daughter and her husband lived. But soon there was a bombing in the house next door, and we remembered everything we had experienced in Mariupol. My youngest daughter, who was 16 at the time, woke up in the middle of the night and asked where we should go. After that, we moved to Dnipro.

The Mariupol district where we lived is located between two military infrastructures, near the sea. It was the most heavily bombed area of Mariupol. We lived in the basement where there were seven families. It was very cold, even though we had brought all the blankets. I thought I would never get warm. We helped each other and everyone became friends, sharing food. We cooked together over a fire; we fried pancakes even under the bombs.

I had an icon, which I now wear like a talisman, sitting in the basement and praying. I asked that, should it fail, it be me, as my husband knows how to drive and will be able to get my daughter out… Today, I work for a non-governmental organization and my daughter has entered Zaporizhzhia Medical University to become a therapist.

Valentyna, Podoly

I lived in the village of Podoly, near Kupiansk, in the region of Kharkiv. Our village was so beautiful, so full of flowers, so green. Then we saw troops of the Russian Federation in Kupiansk. People started disappearing, and I know of such cases personally. It was frightening to see soldiers going through the streets. I started writing poems because of the stress.

My granddaughter, who lives abroad, saw on the news that our village was bombed, contacted the Red Cross and, on December 19th, 2022, volunteers took me to Kharkiv. Today, I live in a collective center. There is a pharmacy, hospital and stores nearby, but I really want to go home. I used to plant strawberries, the tulips bloomed in the garden and the plum tree was covered with flowers like a bride. We think everything will be fine, we just have to wait a little and then we will go home.

Mariia, Nove

I come from the village of Nove, in the Donetsk region. I lived for six months under the temporary control of the Russian Federation. I remember April 14, 2022, when the shelling was very intense. I was in my house and decided to run to the basement. Before I got there, I was hit by a blast wave against the basement door. I lost consciousness for a moment. Then I saw that the house and basement were completely destroyed, but I was still alive. My head and arms were injured. After that, I lived in the basement of my son’s house, running around the house cooking. It was very scary. I was the only one left on my street. My whole body was shaking with fear.

In the autumn, when the village was retaken by the Ukrainian army, my son came to get me and took me to Dnipro. We have been living together in a dormitory for seven months now. I really want to go home.

Svitlana, Odesa

I was born in the region of Odesa and lived there for seventeen years. On February 24th, 2022, I received a call from a friend at 5:00 a.m. who told me about the explosions in Kyiv and asked me if there was an attack in Odesa. For the first two hours, I did not understand what was going on because I had not heard the first explosions. I was very stressed for the first four days, then I decided to stay in Odesa because I had friends and relationships there and I wanted to help people. I joined my friends’ volunteer organization and started cooking for the internally displaced persons in Odesa.

The following week, my father, told me it was not safe to stay in a big city and convinced me to stay with him in the region of Odesa. I spent three months there, with all the members of the family. In May, I was asked to volunteer at a camp in Chernivtsi for children and families displaced from Mykolaiv. Initially, I thought I would only stay for a month and then return to Odesa. But then I got a job offer from a humanitarian organization and, a year later, I am still here.

I think helping those who need it most fulfills me and makes me happy. It is something I have always had in me.

Iryna, Kharkiv

I come from the Saltivka district, north-east of Kharkiv. I lived there with my mother, aged 76, in a 12-story building. I worked as deputy head of a company’s human resources department. Saltivka was the first district to be bombed on February 24th. We heard the first explosions at 4:50 am. Less than an hour later, my daughter and her partner came to pick us up in their car. We took only our papers, our cat, and our dog. We thought it would only last three days and that we would soon be back home. We went to Poltava first. We did not have a plan as such, we just felt that we needed a safe place, so we tried to navigate as we traveled.

On March 4th, we arrived in Chernivtsi. That same day, a missile hit our apartment directly. We lost windows, doors, and an entire wall. In Chernivtsi, we first stayed in a dormitory for six weeks, then found an apartment to rent. As a result of the war, my business closed. So, I lost my job. In Chernivtsi, we had to start from scratch. In the beginning, it was difficult because we had nothing. Over time, we adapted. When I found a job, things got a lot easier.

I have spent my whole life in Kharkiv, and I would like to go back because this is my home.

Hanna, Lysychansk

I come from the town of Lysychansk, in the region of Luhansk. My husband and I were preparing for the day of a full-scale war. My husband packed his bags and persuaded me to do the same for myself and my son. We have a son, Yaroslav, who is 10 years old.

On February 24th, we arrived in Dnipro and my husband had to leave immediately. My husband’s brother was killed in Mariupol.

It is difficult to be a woman during the war. War is a time of challenge and development. I never dreamed that on February 24th, 2023, I would receive the Order of Princess Olga for my volunteer and professional activities. I hope we will soon be able to work and help civilians in the region of Luhansk.

Olha, Balakliia

We lived here in Balakliia for six months under the temporary control of the Russian Federation. We never went anywhere, it was scary, it was difficult to get food, we had no stores or pharmacies. One of our neighbors disappeared and we have no idea what has become of him for over a year. The Ukrainian army returned to our village in September 2022.

Before the war, I worked in a kindergarten for children with special educational needs. Today, I have no job, so I help to bring humanitarian aid to our village and to repair houses.

Liudmyla, Siversk

I am 77 years old and have lived in Siversk, in the region of Donetsk, for 55 years. I know what bombing has been like since 2014, when neighboring towns, including Lysychansk and Popasna, were shelled. When the war started, I lived in the basement of a nearby house for 27 days with 25 other people. It was difficult to stay there for long, as my legs were swelling.

During one of the bombings, a rocket fell between the slabs of the house where I was hiding in the basement. The whole house shook. The road from Siversk to Bakhmut was closed, but my daughter arranged for me to leave. I took a few things with me, documents, a telephone, and some food.On May 24th, we drove at high speed to Dnipro, then to Lviv.

I would really like to go back to Siversk, but it just does not make sense anymore. My house, which I recently renovated with my own pension, has been destroyed. The windows are broken, the roof is gone, and I do not know if it will ever be repaired. I would really like to have my own place again one day.

Olena, Kramatorsk

I am one of those people for whom the military conflict began in 2014. The first explosions, the first bombs, the first deaths, I experienced them in May 2014 in Kramatorsk. In February 2022, the full-scale war began, so the decision to leave was taken quite quickly. I absolutely could not hide, sit in basements – I had to help those who needed help more than me. Helping and supporting people is one of the main resources and motivations in my life.

The journey from Kramatorsk to Lviv took two days. I spent sleepless nights that I will never forget, I was afraid for my loved ones back home and I had no idea what was going to happen.

My decision to stay in my country and work for others was fundamental. As I have over seven years’ experience of working with internally displaced persons, I was aware of the importance of my work in Ukraine.

Right now, Kramatorsk is a frontline town, 35 kilometers from Bakhmut. It is a very dangerous place, with constant alarms, explosions, and destruction in the town. People are tired and losing hope. I have no intention of going home yet, as I see myself working in Lviv for the time being.

I think Ukrainian women living in war will be learning about their strength and their new identity for a long time to come.

Valeriia, Kyiv

I am 22 years old, and I come from Kyiv. Before the war, I was studying for a master’s degree and working for a Ukrainian clothing brand. I was on the left bank of the city when it all started, I had to pack very quickly, I immediately took my documents and equipment, I did not take any of my clothes because of the panic and I quickly went to my family on the right bank. Together, we quickly stocked up on the basics such as cereals, sugar, salt, sausage, cheese, and water. At first, we had no idea how long it was going to last; we had the impression that everything was going to stop in two or three weeks. We read the news non-stop and ran for cover at every incomprehensible noise.

We decided to go to Chernivtsi because it seemed reliable and we had family here, so we had somewhere to stay. We considered going abroad, but only if the situation in Chernivtsi got worse.

I miss my family the most now because we are separated. I miss my birthplace, I really miss the streets where I was born, and I want to get back to my normal life in a big city. Today, it is difficult to imagine the future, because we have all seen that everything can change at any moment, that nothing is certain. I hope this situation will come to an end as soon as possible, and that we will have the opportunity to plan as before.

Olha, Vuhlehirsk

I come from Bakhmut, and now I live in Dnipro. Bakhmut has become my second home as I am originally from the city of Vuhlehirsk, in the region of Donetsk. In 2014, I was a student in Bakhmut, and I could not go home because of the war. My parents and grandfather stayed in Vuhlehirsk. When the war started, I was torn between two fires. No matter where they shoot, it will still hurt.

In Bakhmut, I was under the shelling during the Spring, I got very scared and left the city in April 2022. I went to my cousin’s house in Poland, and I worked as a psychologist, conducting consultations with Ukrainian children online. Two months later, I returned to Ukraine. Dnipro is the city that is closest to home.

My apartment in Bakhmut does not probably exist anymore. I regret not taking the books and candles I made myself. I really like making my house comfortable and beautiful, but I cannot do it now, as everything is very temporary. It is great that we humans are endowed with a memory and can store many things in it. At least my house will stay in my memory. I am confident that I will be able to visit my parents. I have not seen my mother for three years.

Svitlana, Derhatchi

I come from Derhatchi, a town north of Kharkiv, on the road to Belgorod in Russia. I was living in a house with my husband and our two sons, one aged 20 and the other 13.

For 10 days, we spent a lot of time hiding in the basement of our house. As soon as we heard explosions or there was any military activity in the vicinity, we immediately went to the basement. The kids started coughing because of the dampness, but we felt safer.

One morning, we realized that several towns were blocked, and that the neighboring village was already under the temporary control of the Russian Federation, while military planes began bombing the area. We decided it was time to leave. On the morning of March 1st, 2022, my sister-in-law and her family came to pick us up. We traveled across the country, trying to find a place to live. We really had no plan. We first went to Poltava and kept going until we found a place to stay. We met a woman who had a house to rent in the Lviv area. This is how we ended up here.

The sounds of cluster bombs and aircraft have stayed with me for a long time. The war made it harder to be a mother. The safety of my children became the priority.

Nataliia, Kurakhove

I am 60 years old and come from Kurakhove, in the region of Donetsk. The town had a population of 35,000 and was small but very pleasant, green, and well-kept. We never thought it would turn into so many ruins.

I worked in the electricians’ factory. It was the town’s main facility. A lot of people worked there. The town was heavily bombed, so we decided not to wait and leave. We were informed that there would be evacuation buses and trains. We arrived here on April 7, 2022, with my husband and mother. It was difficult to convince my mother to leave, she did not want to. We took our little parrot, our work laptop, and small bags of clothes with us. We thought we would be back in a month or two. I no longer have any family there.

We have everything we need here, but this situation is emotionally difficult. The future is unpredictable. The bombardments are even more violent now, the artillery can reach our town, so nobody knows when or how we will be able to return.

It is very difficult to be a mother in war time. I have two daughters, one in Ukraine, the other in Russia. The family is now separated, and I have no contact with them or my grandchildren.

Yuliia, Kyiv

My name is Yuliia. I will soon be 21. I am originally from Chernivtsi. Before the war, I was studying and working in Kyiv as an interior designer. I have been living in Kyiv for 4 years and both Kyiv and Chernivtsi are close to my heart.

On February 23rd, 2022, I went to visit my family in Chernivtsi, initially for two days, but on February 24th I realized that I would never be coming back. Chernivtsi was the safest city at the time, so I decided to stay. I have my family here, I have a place to live, which makes things easier for me. I started volunteering as soon as I could, to help displaced persons. Our town is not very big, and the second week after the start of the war, a lot of displaced persons came here. I hope to go to Kyiv to pass my exams, but I do not know yet if I will return to live there.

This war has changed me and my plans. I feel more grown- up now. A lot of people have died, and there is a lot of suffering, but my work in a humanitarian organization has made me feel useful and active. I have never thought of going abroad, I do not see my life outside this country. My future is here.

Mariia, Huliaipole

I came from Huliaipole, in the region of Zaporizhzhia. On March 3, 2022, heavy fighting began here, and it has not stopped for a day. On March 8th, we evacuated by car while taking fire, it was very scary. I came to Truskavets with my son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters. It was very expensive to rent an apartment, so we came to Dnipro. My son, his wife and children live in Pidhorodne, and I asked to come to this shelter with tears in my eyes, where I have been living for over a year. I come to visit my children from time to time. I try to cheer myself up a bit, go for walks and exercise.

We have no where to go back to, everything is destroyed. Before the war, I had just retired and was looking forward to the opportunity to rest and live in peace. Everything was fine. Where to start now at this age? There is nothing left, and it is impossible to change life.

Halyna, Kolodyazne

I arrived with my granddaughter Lera from the village of Kolodyazne in the region of Kharkiv. Last autumn, we lived in Kharkiv for three weeks, but we came back to our village. We were living under shelling and survived in the basement. My son and granddaughter moved to Kharkiv in December, as Lera was very afraid of explosions. On March 22, 2023, my son had to leave, and I brought her home. Lera was very scared, so I stayed with her at night. Lera’s mother left her when she was two, and she no longer has her parents with her. She is in second grade, but we cannot do online lessons, as I have an old model telephone. I work with her myself: I teach her to read and write, and I buy her books. I am now her teacher, her mother and her father.

Here, in the dormitory, we feel good, it is calm, quiet, and the child has finally started to sleep normally. We have a playground, and we walk around it so that Lera can play with the other children. My husband has stayed at Kolodyazne to look after the housework and garden. We are all looking forward to going home.

Svitlana, Kostiantynivka

I am originally from Kostiantynivka, in the region of Donetsk. Since 2014, we have lived close to the front line, 60 kilometers away. We always had a sense of danger, but we felt safe enough to stay in the city. In 2016, I changed everything in my life and joined a humanitarian organization. I felt that my mission was to help and support people and I wanted to work in the humanitarian field.

On February 24th, 2022, we heard an explosion. It was much closer and louder than anything we had heard since 2014. It was very frightening because I was pregnant and about to give birth. We packed our emergency bags, we had a car, but I did not know what to do because I did not want to give birth somewhere along the way. Meanwhile, I continued to work. For the first few days, we followed the news and organized everything in our office. Being focused on work kept me from going crazy. At the beginning of March, I went to the hospital and gave birth to my son. I spent a few days in the hospital with my newborn, and on March 7th, I went home. For two days, air raid alerts were sounded day and night, it was so stressful. So, we took our luggage and our children and went to Lviv. It took us two days to reach Lviv.

Last year, every day was a challenge on every level: we had to leave our hometown and became internally displaced persons, I had a family and a newborn baby to look after, and I had to manage the rapid growth of our organization in a context of military conflict.

Halyna, Kurakhove

I am 68 years old and come from Kurakhove in the region of Donetsk. I came to the region of Ivano-Frankivsk with my husband, my daughter-in-law, her two children and her mother. We arrived here on April 15th, 2022.

Since 2014, we had been used to the sound of explosions, but we had the impression that it was far away. In 2022, our house was only 20 kilometers from the contact line. There was a lot of bombing and we lived near an electricity factory. At one point, they started targeting the factory and we had to leave. My son works in the power station and he decided to stay there. Once, he called me to say goodbye because the power plant was under heavy bombardment, and he thought he would not survive. That was the most terrible and difficult moment.

We left thinking that we would be able to go home quickly, so we only took the minimum. We received a lot of support here, but we miss our town.

Nataliia, Soledar

I am from the city of Soledar, in the region of Donetsk. In May last year, there were already battles in the city, so I decided to go with volunteers to the city of Dnipro. I stayed in Soledar for a long time, hoping that everything would end soon. I did not take anything with me, only my documents, there was very heavy shelling and we dreamed of only one thing: to leave. We reached Pokrovsk, where we received food and took a train to Dnipro.

I had nothing left. There was a shelling near my house and everything was destroyed. I hoped that my son’s house would remain, but it was also destroyed. There was nothing left but ashes. Some of my friends died when they were in the basement of their house. Everything is very complicated. Fortunately, my two sons survived. They also evacuated.

Karina, Debaltseve, Sloviansk

I used to live in Debaltseve, in the region of Donetsk. We lived in Izyum for a while, then in January 2015, we went to Sloviansk. We moved from apartment to apartment, we could not find a job. When everything was more or less settled, we had to flee again because of the war.

At first, we lived in the basement. I already had two children, it was very cold and difficult. On June 6, 2022, we left the city, my eldest son convinced us to evacuate. When the planes started dropping bombs, we took the evacuation buses to Dnipro.

We have been living in a shelter in Dnipro for almost a year now. I work here as an administrator, helping newly displaced persons to settle in.

Liza, Kyiv

I am originally from the region of Dnipro, but I lived in Kyiv for 10 years and studied history there. I shared an apartment in the city with a university friend.

In January, we could feel a certain tension, and I had already packed my emergency bag with all the necessary items. As a historian, I had also taken some old family photos, to which I am very attached, and I did not want to risk losing them in a missile attack. On February 24th, we went to stay with my flatmate’s family in a village near Kyiv. I spent two weeks in the countryside with 14 members of her family. As I realized that the situation was going to last longer than I had originally thought, I decided to go to Latvia, where my aunt lives. My parents and brother stayed in the Dnipro region, and every time there was an alert, I worried about them. Their village school was bombed, but fortunately their house was not damaged.

I returned to Ukraine five months later. It was very important for me to return there. As a historian, I understood that this was a critical time for Ukraine, and I really wanted to share this period with all Ukrainians. I wanted to get involved and help in any way I could, so I applied for jobs with humanitarian organizations.

Olha, Virnopillya

I live in Virnopillya, near Izium, in the region of Kharkiv. My father, grandfather and even my great-grandfather, who is buried in a mass grave here, were born in this village. My great-grandfather defended our village during the Second World War and died in 1941. On the morning of February 24th, I woke up to a message from my son Vadym’s teacher. That’s how I learned about the war. After a while, we lost water, gas, electricity and mobile communications. We moved into my mother-in-law’s house, cooked together, slept in our clothes and hid in the basement of the house to escape the bombings. One day, a plane dropped a bomb on the warehouses in the center of the village, and half the windows of the houses were blown out.

My son dreamed he went outside and saw a plane flying towards the house and dropping a bomb. On March 24th, we quickly packed up and left. We lived near Poltava. At the beginning of November last year, we returned home and spent the winter without electricity or gas. I try to distract myself from bad thoughts, work in the garden, feed the pigs. I really believe that Virnopillya will come back to life.

Hanna, Kramatorsk

I am originally from Kramatorsk, in the region of Donetsk. In 2014, I experienced my first displacement, but it only lasted three months. When the situation improved, I returned to Kramatorsk with my husband. My mother and son returned a few months later. My brother tried to convince me to stay in Kyiv: “This region has no future, stay here”. But I wanted to go home. My motherhad already told me in 2021: “there will be a war, get ready”. I did not want to hear it.

The first strike in Kramatorsk came at 4:00 am. At first, I thought it would be over after a few months, but as time went by, the situation worsened. The explosions intensified. It got to the point where I could no longer sleep, and I said to my husband: “We should leave”. My brother had moved from Kyiv to Lviv and invited us to join him. Together with my husband, my son and mother, we moved to Lviv at the beginning of April 2022. We only had one bag per person. I have no one left there. We left on April 4th and on April 8th, there was a missile attack on the train station, which killed 60 people. I was shocked and relieved to be away.

Lina, Donetsk, Sievierodonetsk

In 2014, I was with my family in Donetsk. We waited until my son Maksym’s school year was over and moved to Sievierodonetsk in 2016. This change was difficult; it was hard to explain to Maksym why he had to leave his grandparents, school, classmates and friends. He had to change schools several times while we moved to Sloviansk, then to Sievierodonetsk. Today, my son understands that it is not difficult to move to a new town. We experienced this for the first time nine years ago.

On February 24th, my son was in Kyiv, and my husband and I were in Sievierodonetsk. It was dangerous, there were explosions everywhere. He took an evacuation train to Lviv, and we moved to Dnipro. We had to leave Sievierodonetsk. We packed our bags in an hour and a half, taking with us our personal belongings and all our pillows and blankets. It was very cold, and I had no idea where we were going to spend the night. Today, my son is studying in Kyiv, at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Medical University. I work for a non-governmental organization because I want to help internally displaced persons. I understand them very well.

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Learn more about how the exhibition “Women and War. On the paths of those who Remained” was held in Kyiv.