war story
Chernigiv, Ukraine - Sep 12, 2022
The Beginning, Chernigiv
The Beginning,
Chernigiv
This is about
Julia Litvinenko
By Olha Zahoruiko
Chernigiv, Ukraine, Sep 12, 2022
aiI did not believe that Russia would attack us. Many talked a lot about this and had emergency suitcases, a plan in case prepared, but not me. I didn't believe. My name is Julia, 34 years old. I have a husband and children ages 2 and 5, before the war they were 1 year less. Parents, sister, and niece.
aiI had to believe February 24th. This day, I did not run away anywhere, I did not the next day, nor the next week. Only on the 10th day I realized that I could no longer sit and wait for death - mine, my children and loved ones. I realized this after another night when my children slept next to me, and my hands went numb with fear from the sound of fighter jets overhead and explosions.
I could no longer sit and wait for death with my children sleeping next to me and my hands numb with fear from fighter jets overhead.
aiWe left Chernigiv on March 6 or 7, I can’t say for sure now, with a half-empty tank of car - my family and parents. On the way out of the city, we waited in a traffic jam in front of the bridge and shots sounded very close by. At the exit, there were houses and cars burned to the ground. We did not know exactly where we were going and whether we would get there at all.
aiRelatives helped us, they found an old house in the village. No one had lived in it for 20 years and the only amenities were light and a well in the yard. But, there was no shooting, it was quiet. We are very grateful to these people.
aiThe trip with detours around dangerous places took us three days. If it weren't for the children, I would have stayed in Chernihiv. But I wanted to save them, so that their arms and legs, their lives, would remain in place.
