Nadezhda is a pastry chef by profession who used to work at a private confectionery factory in Lyman. She is raising two daughters by herself, and like many who are living through the Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict, was forced to leave her home due to the hostilities. Our team in the city of Donetsk met Nadezhda during a distribution of food parcels and hygiene kits in Yenakiieve. Nadezhda was one of the people we assisted together with our local operational partner.
“I remember I was cooking and I heard the shelling start. Something was flying, buzzing and I stood listening while everything was frying and cooking on the stove. We quickly ran into the house and I shouted to my daughter, ‘Lie down on the floor!’ It was scary. I thought we would be buried under the rubble. We didn’t have a basement in the house so we hid under our beds. My daughter was very scared then,” said Nadezhda.
After the escalation of hostilities in 2022, Nadezhda and her daughter had to live in a bomb shelter for several months. Because of the number of people in the shelter, they decided to return home. Their return was temporary, though, as nearby shelling was intensifying. Eventually, they were evacuated to a nearby village away from the frontline.
A neighbor came and said ‘Nadya, get ready, the evacuation has begun!’ So, in September 2022 we were evacuated by bus. I only took a few bags of groceries, a pot, and a frying pan. If I had known that we would never return home, I would have been better off taking clothes for myself and my daughter.
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