What is hidden behind a frightened look?

The story won in the Contest of short video stories "People and War" - the first place among the citizen journalists’ videos. Authors Aleksandr Ivanov (Donetsk) and Maksym Matsiuk (Ternopil).


Hello, my name is Lisa, I'm 20 years old and I came from Donetsk to Kharkiv. It happened in August of 2014. The reason for this was the temporary occupation of the Donetsk Oblast and the conducting of the Anti-Terroristic Operation. The first shelling began when I was riding a bus from school on my way home. Now my house is completely destroyed. My family had nowhere to live and we moved to Kharkiv. My dad now stayed to live there, but for us it is a big problem because we really miss him and we very rarely see each other. I'm a third year student now. I work. Certainly, there are some problems. The first problem we encountered upon our arrival is the search for accommodation. A lot of people did not want to rent apartments to people with Donetsk registration papers. At first, we lived together with my mother, my grandmother, my brother and we rented a room. The second problem I faced, was that there were employers who would not employ people with with Donetsk registration papers. And the third point is that in the centers of social support, there are problems with payments: social assistance does not come in time, which means that you count on this money but it is not there.

My name is Ekaterina, I came from Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, during the time when the war started. There was a lot of unrest around. I took a bag, a dog with a cat and went to Kharkiv. In Kharkiv, I began to lead a more active lifestyle. I stayed here and I really like it here. I had 2 shocks from Kharkiv when I just arrived. The first shock is the distance, because Kramatorsk is very small. And the second is the attitude of the people, meaning that no matter how many times I would turn for help from absolute strangers - there was always willingness to help. My desire to become a volunteer in principle is like a response to the help I received when I came here.

My name is Irina Gavrilovna, I'm 64 years old. Now I live in the city of Kharkiv. I was born in the city of Artemovsk. My whole conscious life I spent in Donetsk; I studied, worked, got married and raised children there. Due to such events that occurred in our country. Well, my daughter and my grandchildren were forced to move to Kharkiv. We left because of the horrible and unpleasant events. Absolutely unexpectedly, I went to my daughter, we sowed seeds. And suddenly, with my own eyes, I raised my head to the sky and I heard a terrible roar of planes, it was as they say fan attack on the city. Helicopters and fighter planes were flying right above our heads. I saw the pilot's glasses. There were explosions. We were running around, there was nowhere for us to hide. Bullets flew into the metal gates, into the fence, into the roof. It seemed to me that I was in some sort of a movie. The next day I was already at the train station. At first, as we arrived, there was some kind of aid - this was the Kharkiv public organization, some clothes, food packages were distributed. It's hard, I would like to go home.

My name is Anna. I moved with my family in August of 2014. Lugansk region, the city of Pervomaisk. At the moment we can not return home. Because our house is destroyed. There were 5 hits in our house. And after the 5th hit, the5 floors crashed together. Having arrived here in Kharkiv, like all displaced people, we came across the accommodation problem. When there was a bombing going on, you could not call an ambulance or firefighters, no one came to you. But the most important thing is that we all want to live peacefully and to sleep calmly in our apartment.

Hello, my name is Olga, I moved from Donetsk. We left on July 11, 2014. Such thoughts have already begun to appear after May 26, when the seizure of Donetsk airport took place. For some reason, no one thinks about the children, about what the children are experiencing in the process of relocation. My child did not understand why we could not return. And I would like to draw attention to this problem, that it is necessary for educators and teachers and school psychologists to focus precisely on the fact that there are such children in the school community. These are not ordinary children. These are the children who survived the trauma, and the social trauma is the longest, this trauma remains with us for life.

My name is Oleksandr Ivanov, I'm 18 years old and I moved from the city of Donetsk. It all started on May 26, 2014. At that moment I was at school. And I heard how fighter planes and helicopters started flying over the school. On this day, the bombardment of the Donetsk airport began. On June 10, 2014, I moved to a village near Mariupol. And for 3 months we had been living in peace. And then it all began again and the military equipment started coming in. At first, the local residents had very strong clashes with the Ukrainian military, they could not establish contacts. And now, after 3 years I realize how many partnerships, how much love, family marriages the war has destroyed. The people who stayed there do not feel the unity with the people from the west, the north, the center. Now there are problems. The most important thing is that people are used to war and they also began to forget about the displaced. Until now, we do not know what is going on in their souls. And therefore reach out your hand to the person in need, because you never know what is hidden behind a frightened look.