“We could see falling shells from the window. In a moment our village came under fire,” says Lyubov from the Ukrainian village of Lastochkino
Published: Aug 26, 2016 Reading time: 3 minutes
The memories are still fresh. Lyubov Dmitrievna recalls the night when her house in Lastochkino, few kilometres from the frontline, was shelled. “It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and everyone was at home”, Lyubov says while showing us shrapnel traces all around the walls. “At first the shells were falling in the field nearby and we could see them from the window. Then, I heard the whistle, and in a moment our village came under fire,” says Lyubov.
“We ran into the bedroom. I sat under the table, and my son sat on the bed. I was in a panic. I did not hear the glass flying apart,” adds Lyubov. Her son was much calmer and told her: "Mom, I think we are missing something." And he was right.
“When the shelling ended and we went out of the house, we saw that shrapnel hit literally everything. The walls of the house, the fence, the garage, the car, there was not a single not damaged item,” says Lyubov and adds that the garage had been built right before the war, they had set up the fence and made repairs inside the house shortly before the conflict. “Now everything was destroyed,” Lyubov says sadly.
Lack of work and money
After the shelling, Lyubov and her son moved to Rodinskoe, another village, as they were too scared to spend the nights in Lastochkino. Two days ago, Lyubov had to stay in her house during the night again. “I thought it was the end of the world. I am tired of this war. Still, I need to look after our kitchen garden here. I want to preserve some cucumbers for the winter,” she says as they are usually spending just the daytime in their house in Lastochkino.
And this not the only consequence of the conflict. “How can I live on my pension? I receive 1213 hrivnya per month (less than 50 USD). It would be absolutely impossible to repair my house with this money,” says Lyubov Dmitrievna, 61, who officially retired from her work in a kindergarten in the village of Lastochkino 10 years ago.
She continued working as her pension was simply not enough to survive. “It is difficult to be a nurse in your sixties, but it is even more difficult to be an unemployed pensioner in Ukraine. Now, as the kindergarten stands destroyed by artillery fire,” adds Lyubov. Roman, Lyubov’s son, used to work in a factory in Donetsk before the war. He had 15 years of experience, but after the red line on the map of Donetsk had emerged, together with losing access to Donetsk, Roman also lost his job.
Fortunately, People in Need with the European Commission Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection department (ECHO) are providing housing reconstruction in frontline areas of eastern Ukraine. Today People in Need is the only agency involved in the reconstruction of houses in Lastochkino. A few months ago, Lyubov received a 6000 hrivnya cash grant as part of an ECHO funded shelter programme. “It was enough to install the windows and to repair some walls,” she says. Now People in Need together with ECHO are providing Lyubov with extra materials and labor support, so very soon her house will be fully repaired.
