Olena Dubinina and her five grandchildren moved to Lviv from Sloviansk last spring. The woman’s son is a soldier, died from injuries received in the war, the daughter-in-law has not been interested in children for several years. Grandma Olena became a mother and father for the children, and the apartment that the family rents in Lviv replaced their home.
The woman talked about the first days of the full-scale invasion, evacuation, raising children, plans and dreams of victory.
“February 24 started for me at seven in the morning. I woke up from an explosion, which I had not heard before, although I knew the sounds of shells well. She went outside, the sky was sad and gray. “I called my son, who has been serving under the contract since 2016, and the son said one word: ‘It has begun,'” the woman recalls.
There was no panic. Olena did not think of evacuating from Sloviansk. After all, the sound of the siren was familiar to them long before the beginning of the full-scale invasion, they also knew the sounds of explosions, since 2014.
But when the children’s father was injured in March and he was being treated at a clinical hospital in Dnipro, she decided to leave there with the children to be closer to her son.
“A chaplain from my son’s brigade helped us leave. I put a few things in the children’s backpacks, sat down and left. We didn’t think we were going for a long time, we didn’t think anything at all. They thought about the only thing – that the son was alive and recovered,” says the woman.
After treatment in Dnipro, Olena’s son Andriy was transported to Lviv in a military hospital in a serious condition by an ambulance. This decided the further location of the large family.
“Lviv seemed sad and gloomy to me. Probably because we were tired from the road, we didn’t know where to be or where to live. They drove around the world just to be close to our Andrii. There were many questions: where will we live, where will our children study. Volunteers and the “Service for Children” administration helped with everything. These people have become family for us, they help us in everything. That was so important, especially in the first days after arrival. After all, we didn’t know anyone or anything,” the woman shares.
Andrii was in a military hospital for three months – unconscious and in a very serious condition. All the time, Olena’s mother was nearby.
“When he woke up, there were such moments, I asked him, he nodded his head. I understood him without words. I thought we would treat him, and even if he was in a wheelchair, he would be alive,” she recalls.
Andriy died on July 9. Buried on the field of honor burials of the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv. The woman says that now she has an inseparable connection with our city, because her son stayed here forever.
“I don’t remember the days when my son died. The organization of the funeral and all other issues were handled by the city authorities of Lviv. At that time, I was like a big fish that was thrown ashore and it seems to be greedily swallowing air, I could not think, act, make any decisions,” the woman shares.
After her son’s funeral, Olena decided to stay with her children in Lviv. Here, compared to Sloviansk, it is calm, children have the opportunity to study and attend clubs.
“We have a house left there, the military now lives in it. I never thought that at such an age I would have to move somewhere, leave places close to my heart and change my life. This year changed everything completely, the war took away the most precious thing – my son. It was as if she had torn out a piece of my heart,” she recalls.
The oldest grandson of Mrs. Elena, Nikita, is 17, the younger girls, Maryna and Khrystyna, are 12 and 10, Nadiyka is 7, and Bohdanchyk is 5. Nikita already knows what she will do as soon as she comes of age.
“Rocket artillery and ground troops are my future profession. I will enter the Academy of Ground Forces named after Hetman Pyotr Sagaidachny. I will defend our land like a father. Many of my friends who are 18 are already fighting. I can’t stay away. This is my home, I will defend it,” says Nikita.
But Ms. Olena wants her grandson to be around and help with the younger children.
“I’m worried about him, I’m worried about having the strength and health to get the children up on their feet. They are still very small. They help me a lot, and the older girls are in the kitchen – if they need help, they will look after the younger ones, but I understand that all the responsibility rests on my shoulders,” says the woman.
During the incomplete year of living in Lviv, Olena Dubinina fell in love with the city, she says that now they are a little Lvivians.
On the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, Olena will go to her son’s grave with her grandchildren. The granddaughters made paper openings – they want to give them to dad.
“We go to our Andriyk often, to our Hero, and we will go on February 24. I dream of a peaceful sky above the heads of his children. After all, this is what he died for,” the woman adds.