My Name is Natalia part 1:
My name is Natalia (35 years old), my children are: son Artem (15 years old) and daughter Eva (12
years old).
We came from Ukraine, we live in the city of Kherson, it is located in the south of the country not
far from the sea, the Dnieper River flows through the city.
My kids and I used to go there often.
I graduated from the Medical University, Faculty of Pharmacy.
I have been working for 9 years in the management of prisons in the Kherson region in my specialty.
My children are in school.
My husband is now on a voyage, he is a sailor and will soon come to us.
On February 23, we fell asleep at home, in our beds .. we were going to go to school and work in
the morning, everything was fine and calm.
On February 24, it was not an alarm clock that woke me up, but a phone call at 5.00: we had a war.
Our Ukraine is being bombed by Russian troops. so far, they say, only our military installations
are being bombed, not residential buildings.
It became very scary and disturbing. I call my husband, I say war! I can not believe
I turn on the TV and yes .. explosions in all major cities!
My friend is calling me from Kakhovka, a town that is closer to the Crimea than my city. He says
they have already passed us, a lot of equipment is going to Kherson!
They blew up the dam in Kakhovka on the reservoir and let water into the Crimea! And we blocked
this water when the Russians took our Crimea ..
My husband tells me to quickly pack your things and leave!!! Where should I go???
Here is our house! We have just finished making repairs, we still have to order not a lot of
furniture and that's it, how can I give it up? .. and I don't hear explosions, I don't see the war
.. I can't believe that it has begun!
I put my things in the trunk, sat on the bed .. and that's it. Stay at home.
I could not decide to leave my parents (they categorically refused to leave), I could not leave my
home, work .. and our life .
A few hours later (approximately at 12.00) Russian troops approached our city. Entrance to the city
itself is possible only through the river on which the bridge. The battle for the bridge has begun.
The Ukrainian troops did not let the Russians in, and the Russians brutally bombed ours.
My house is not far from the bridge, it was a dangerous place and we lived for 3 days in a bomb
shelter located under the hospital in our area.
it was very loud, very scary, constant tremors and shaking of the earth. Military planes flew so
low that we could not breathe from this horror.
It was very scary to go outside.
After 3 days on February 27, Russian troops made their way across the bridge and entered my city.
from that moment we were in occupation. they blocked all roads in all directions.
the city was completely surrounded and subjugated.
The police, the security service and all the Ukrainian military left our city because it threatened
their lives.
They took away all their weapons so that the Russians would not get it.
our city was left without police and only in the power of the Russian military. they blocked the
railway, it was impossible to enter or leave the city.
These days Kyiv and other large cities are being actively bombed. Several times there was an air
raid, people spend the night in the subway.
Shells sometimes hit residential buildings, there was a fire in several high-rise buildings.
This is happening all over Ukraine.
We have declared a general mobilization.
This is a real war. And it is the Russian troops who are killing us, destroying our cities, my
country.
My city is bilingual, we calmly communicate in the language that is convenient, some in Russian,
some Ukrainian, this is in the order of things. In our family, for example, we speak Russian, 90%
of the population of southern Ukraine are Russian-speaking. No problem. My grandfather is from
Russia, there were 7 children in the family, and only he ended up in Ukraine and stayed here to
live and start a family. All the rest live in different cities of Russia, we communicated and
maintained relations with relatives. Even now they call my mom and ask if everything is ok with us.
There is no need to save anyone from any neo-Nazis. We had our quiet life, full of hopes and plans!
Now for us the Russian Federation and the Russians are like fascists from those very war films.
This is not "politicians just cannot agree", not "armed conflict", this is a full-fledged military
invasion of Russia into an independent country.
I sealed all the windows in the house with adhesive tape so that the glass would not break from the
explosions and covered it with a thick cloth so that small fragments would not injure us during the
explosion. It looks very gloomy.
At the beginning of the war there was a panic, all the products were swept off the shelves of
stores, I also bought what I could. I didn't have time to buy meat and vegetables, only potatoes
and cereals. I don't know how long this will last and what will happen next. The shops have been
closed all these days.
we could not believe that a situation was possible when the products would not be available for
purchase.
Trains from the city and to our city no longer run, there are hostilities on the highway, food and
medicine are not brought to us, they sell only what is left in warehouses.
People can't leave if they want to. The topic of refugees is not for us yet. Russians all over the
city. Everywhere.
Civilians are being killed, they were people standing at bus stops, riding in a car. They were shot
at in order to make everyone scared and to subdue the city. People were shot on the highway in a
car while trying to leave Kherson.
Due to a shell hit, the building of the Fabrika shopping center caught fire. This is our largest
shopping center, relatively new, the most favorite place for recreation of the city residents. He
is in my neighborhood. As a family, we often walked there, there are branded shops, an ice rink, a
cafe, a cinema, a sports complex, a swimming pool.
Periodically, mobile operators were turned off in the city. For a long time, phones and the
Internet did not work. It was very scary, with no one to contact, it was not clear what was
happening.
Several times our residents went to the rally, there were a lot of people. Honestly, I didn't go
because I was afraid that people would be killed.
After the military, entering the city, shot at passers-by that got in their way, I was ready for
the worst option.
Over time, some grocery stores and pharmacies finally opened. Selling stocks. People are mostly
busy queuing for hours and buying what's left on the shelves. After all, if store warehouses become
empty, and Kherson remains in blockade, then there will be nowhere to buy groceries. So the
residents are sweeping everything off the shelves,
stocking up for an indefinite period. Of course, not everyone has the money for this. Because all
businesses have closed, all government agencies are closed.
people all sit at home, sleep in basements or corridors and eat very sparingly.
There are many wounded Russian soldiers in our hospitals. They are treated by our doctors with our
medicines. They bomb our homes, schools and hospitals, and then our doctors treat them.
It's very scary to go out into the street, everyone there is in military equipment with a Z, they
walk around with weapons.
there are snipers with weapons on multi-storey buildings and they control that there are no
suspicious people.
I went to the store with a passport (in case they kill me, so that they could identify the body)
and without a mobile phone. Because the Russians checked their phones with civilians, and if they
found a photo or information about the discussion of the war, they immediately killed them.
We have the entire Kherson region in heavy Russian equipment. there's a lot of it, not really a
lot.
They shoot from our city to the neighboring city of Nikolaev.
and Our Ukrainian troops fire back and naturally fall..sometimes into Russians, and sometimes into
civilian homes.
it's very terrible. explosions are constant.
Eva, my daughter, slept in the corridor on the floor for almost a month because she was afraid to
go to her room.
During shelling and explosions, windows and entrance doors ring. Dishes clatter in cupboards.
it's insanely scary.
On March 21, the first people were able to leave Kherson for Nikolaev, the Russians began to
release civilians.
It was the road in the line of fire between the two troops.
the Russians covered themselves with civilians in order to go further and strike.
I decided that I needed to leave, save our lives and the nervous system of my children.
parents said that they would not go anywhere, they would stay in their house until the end, but
they really wanted me to take the children to a safe place so that we could stay alive!
On March 21, from 6 am to 4 pm, I stood in line to leave with my children and friends.
there were fierce battles, everything around exploded and burned. but we didn't get through.
we're back home.
My parents were crying when we left, because there is a possibility that we will never see each
other again..
But we couldn't leave. And they came home to spend the night.
the next day I wanted to try to leave again. The second time saying goodbye to my parents was even
more painful, everyone sobbed ..
I told myself that if I couldn't get past the line of fire today, I wouldn't try again. This
goodbye is simply unbearable!
There were fierce battles and shelling.
the Russian military told me that I brought the children to kill them! I begged them to let us out
and let us pass.
there were tanks everywhere, other huge equipment, everything was shooting! It was so scary that I
don't remember how I was driving.
there were sections with mines on the road and we were shown where not to go and where to be
careful.
In normal civilian life, this road takes 40-50 minutes.
from Kherson to Nikolaev, that day I left at 6 in the morning and only at 18.30 arrived in
Nikolaev.
When we saw the Ukrainian military, we all sobbed with happiness that we managed to overcome this
difficult path and we are free!
We drove further to Odessa, where a friend was waiting for us to spend the night.
Then we drove through Ukraine, sometimes there was an air raid, but we were not afraid! After we
lived and walked next to the Russian military, they were huge heaps of equipment at every
crossroads of the city! Everywhere! We are no longer afraid to hear the air raid alert.
When on the third day we drove up to Lviv (a city on the border with Poland), my husband called me
and said that his company where he works offers help to the Ukrainian families of his employees!
The girl Natalya contacted me and offered me an option in France.
In the family of Bernard and Susan. They are the parents of my husband's director.
I didn't know where I was going, I had never been to France, but I knew that we would be safe here.
I felt that they are wonderful people with a big heart, because only a kind heart can open the
doors to your house to strangers who you don't know.
I was right, my children are delighted and I am very glad that we met them!
This is such a coincidence that we worked in the same area, because they also worked part of their
lives, like me in prison, and are officers.
They both cook excellently, pamper us with children with delicious dishes, treat us very well.
We feel completely safe and surrounded by care!
Of course, we really miss our relatives, the dog that we left to our parents and our home!
It is very scary not to know when we will be able to live our former life.
years old).
We came from Ukraine, we live in the city of Kherson, it is located in the south of the country not
far from the sea, the Dnieper River flows through the city.
My kids and I used to go there often.
I graduated from the Medical University, Faculty of Pharmacy.
I have been working for 9 years in the management of prisons in the Kherson region in my specialty.
My children are in school.
My husband is now on a voyage, he is a sailor and will soon come to us.
On February 23, we fell asleep at home, in our beds .. we were going to go to school and work in
the morning, everything was fine and calm.
On February 24, it was not an alarm clock that woke me up, but a phone call at 5.00: we had a war.
Our Ukraine is being bombed by Russian troops. so far, they say, only our military installations
are being bombed, not residential buildings.
It became very scary and disturbing. I call my husband, I say war! I can not believe
I turn on the TV and yes .. explosions in all major cities!
My friend is calling me from Kakhovka, a town that is closer to the Crimea than my city. He says
they have already passed us, a lot of equipment is going to Kherson!
They blew up the dam in Kakhovka on the reservoir and let water into the Crimea! And we blocked
this water when the Russians took our Crimea ..
My husband tells me to quickly pack your things and leave!!! Where should I go???
Here is our house! We have just finished making repairs, we still have to order not a lot of
furniture and that's it, how can I give it up? .. and I don't hear explosions, I don't see the war
.. I can't believe that it has begun!
I put my things in the trunk, sat on the bed .. and that's it. Stay at home.
I could not decide to leave my parents (they categorically refused to leave), I could not leave my
home, work .. and our life .
A few hours later (approximately at 12.00) Russian troops approached our city. Entrance to the city
itself is possible only through the river on which the bridge. The battle for the bridge has begun.
The Ukrainian troops did not let the Russians in, and the Russians brutally bombed ours.
My house is not far from the bridge, it was a dangerous place and we lived for 3 days in a bomb
shelter located under the hospital in our area.
it was very loud, very scary, constant tremors and shaking of the earth. Military planes flew so
low that we could not breathe from this horror.
It was very scary to go outside.
After 3 days on February 27, Russian troops made their way across the bridge and entered my city.
from that moment we were in occupation. they blocked all roads in all directions.
the city was completely surrounded and subjugated.
The police, the security service and all the Ukrainian military left our city because it threatened
their lives.
They took away all their weapons so that the Russians would not get it.
our city was left without police and only in the power of the Russian military. they blocked the
railway, it was impossible to enter or leave the city.
These days Kyiv and other large cities are being actively bombed. Several times there was an air
raid, people spend the night in the subway.
Shells sometimes hit residential buildings, there was a fire in several high-rise buildings.
This is happening all over Ukraine.
We have declared a general mobilization.
This is a real war. And it is the Russian troops who are killing us, destroying our cities, my
country.
My city is bilingual, we calmly communicate in the language that is convenient, some in Russian,
some Ukrainian, this is in the order of things. In our family, for example, we speak Russian, 90%
of the population of southern Ukraine are Russian-speaking. No problem. My grandfather is from
Russia, there were 7 children in the family, and only he ended up in Ukraine and stayed here to
live and start a family. All the rest live in different cities of Russia, we communicated and
maintained relations with relatives. Even now they call my mom and ask if everything is ok with us.
There is no need to save anyone from any neo-Nazis. We had our quiet life, full of hopes and plans!
Now for us the Russian Federation and the Russians are like fascists from those very war films.
This is not "politicians just cannot agree", not "armed conflict", this is a full-fledged military
invasion of Russia into an independent country.
I sealed all the windows in the house with adhesive tape so that the glass would not break from the
explosions and covered it with a thick cloth so that small fragments would not injure us during the
explosion. It looks very gloomy.
At the beginning of the war there was a panic, all the products were swept off the shelves of
stores, I also bought what I could. I didn't have time to buy meat and vegetables, only potatoes
and cereals. I don't know how long this will last and what will happen next. The shops have been
closed all these days.
we could not believe that a situation was possible when the products would not be available for
purchase.
Trains from the city and to our city no longer run, there are hostilities on the highway, food and
medicine are not brought to us, they sell only what is left in warehouses.
People can't leave if they want to. The topic of refugees is not for us yet. Russians all over the
city. Everywhere.
Civilians are being killed, they were people standing at bus stops, riding in a car. They were shot
at in order to make everyone scared and to subdue the city. People were shot on the highway in a
car while trying to leave Kherson.
Due to a shell hit, the building of the Fabrika shopping center caught fire. This is our largest
shopping center, relatively new, the most favorite place for recreation of the city residents. He
is in my neighborhood. As a family, we often walked there, there are branded shops, an ice rink, a
cafe, a cinema, a sports complex, a swimming pool.
Periodically, mobile operators were turned off in the city. For a long time, phones and the
Internet did not work. It was very scary, with no one to contact, it was not clear what was
happening.
Several times our residents went to the rally, there were a lot of people. Honestly, I didn't go
because I was afraid that people would be killed.
After the military, entering the city, shot at passers-by that got in their way, I was ready for
the worst option.
Over time, some grocery stores and pharmacies finally opened. Selling stocks. People are mostly
busy queuing for hours and buying what's left on the shelves. After all, if store warehouses become
empty, and Kherson remains in blockade, then there will be nowhere to buy groceries. So the
residents are sweeping everything off the shelves,
stocking up for an indefinite period. Of course, not everyone has the money for this. Because all
businesses have closed, all government agencies are closed.
people all sit at home, sleep in basements or corridors and eat very sparingly.
There are many wounded Russian soldiers in our hospitals. They are treated by our doctors with our
medicines. They bomb our homes, schools and hospitals, and then our doctors treat them.
It's very scary to go out into the street, everyone there is in military equipment with a Z, they
walk around with weapons.
there are snipers with weapons on multi-storey buildings and they control that there are no
suspicious people.
I went to the store with a passport (in case they kill me, so that they could identify the body)
and without a mobile phone. Because the Russians checked their phones with civilians, and if they
found a photo or information about the discussion of the war, they immediately killed them.
We have the entire Kherson region in heavy Russian equipment. there's a lot of it, not really a
lot.
They shoot from our city to the neighboring city of Nikolaev.
and Our Ukrainian troops fire back and naturally fall..sometimes into Russians, and sometimes into
civilian homes.
it's very terrible. explosions are constant.
Eva, my daughter, slept in the corridor on the floor for almost a month because she was afraid to
go to her room.
During shelling and explosions, windows and entrance doors ring. Dishes clatter in cupboards.
it's insanely scary.
On March 21, the first people were able to leave Kherson for Nikolaev, the Russians began to
release civilians.
It was the road in the line of fire between the two troops.
the Russians covered themselves with civilians in order to go further and strike.
I decided that I needed to leave, save our lives and the nervous system of my children.
parents said that they would not go anywhere, they would stay in their house until the end, but
they really wanted me to take the children to a safe place so that we could stay alive!
On March 21, from 6 am to 4 pm, I stood in line to leave with my children and friends.
there were fierce battles, everything around exploded and burned. but we didn't get through.
we're back home.
My parents were crying when we left, because there is a possibility that we will never see each
other again..
But we couldn't leave. And they came home to spend the night.
the next day I wanted to try to leave again. The second time saying goodbye to my parents was even
more painful, everyone sobbed ..
I told myself that if I couldn't get past the line of fire today, I wouldn't try again. This
goodbye is simply unbearable!
There were fierce battles and shelling.
the Russian military told me that I brought the children to kill them! I begged them to let us out
and let us pass.
there were tanks everywhere, other huge equipment, everything was shooting! It was so scary that I
don't remember how I was driving.
there were sections with mines on the road and we were shown where not to go and where to be
careful.
In normal civilian life, this road takes 40-50 minutes.
from Kherson to Nikolaev, that day I left at 6 in the morning and only at 18.30 arrived in
Nikolaev.
When we saw the Ukrainian military, we all sobbed with happiness that we managed to overcome this
difficult path and we are free!
We drove further to Odessa, where a friend was waiting for us to spend the night.
Then we drove through Ukraine, sometimes there was an air raid, but we were not afraid! After we
lived and walked next to the Russian military, they were huge heaps of equipment at every
crossroads of the city! Everywhere! We are no longer afraid to hear the air raid alert.
When on the third day we drove up to Lviv (a city on the border with Poland), my husband called me
and said that his company where he works offers help to the Ukrainian families of his employees!
The girl Natalya contacted me and offered me an option in France.
In the family of Bernard and Susan. They are the parents of my husband's director.
I didn't know where I was going, I had never been to France, but I knew that we would be safe here.
I felt that they are wonderful people with a big heart, because only a kind heart can open the
doors to your house to strangers who you don't know.
I was right, my children are delighted and I am very glad that we met them!
This is such a coincidence that we worked in the same area, because they also worked part of their
lives, like me in prison, and are officers.
They both cook excellently, pamper us with children with delicious dishes, treat us very well.
We feel completely safe and surrounded by care!
Of course, we really miss our relatives, the dog that we left to our parents and our home!
It is very scary not to know when we will be able to live our former life.
