There are many residents in the shelter in Kremenna. Valeriya left on March 17th when her daughter was only 8 months old. She and her husband took their most valuable possessions, their daughter and younger brother and sister. Valeriya’s parents later left as well.

“We were hoping that the orcs would just get lost in our forests and swamps in Kremenna, but they found their way. It was difficult to leave the city because it was under attack. At first, we tried to put out the fires and provide food for the people and our military, and then Valeriya’s parents made arrangements with a poultry farm to distribute chickens and eggs. We hoped it would all end quickly. It was tough—we couldn’t withdraw money and couldn’t buy food for the little one. Sofia was constantly irritable due to the shelling. I remember one day she ate borscht from a bottle because there was nothing else,” Valeriya recalls.

Now, Sofia has grown up a bit and smiles with all her teeth. According to her parents, she sleeps much better.

“We didn’t know what had happened to our house for four months, but now we do. We had everything, we lived so well, and we didn’t deny ourselves anything, but now we have nothing left,” the woman says.

Valeria with her daughter