I am Snizhana Bozhenok - a 20-year-old Ukrainian who is living through war.
I am more than grateful to be alive right now and I can write this article because our military has defended Ukraine and is fighting for us every day. I have a voice and I want to use it for the sake of my nation. In this article, I would like to tell my story and talk about Ukraine.
My story
When the war started I was in my hometown - Chernihiv - a city in the North of Ukraine that borders Belarus. I woke up and was struck with the news of the war. What do you even do when the war starts? I had no idea. My whole life has changed since that day. I don't even remember my life before the war, as if it never happened. Time has stopped.
russian soldiers were fast - they came close to the city in one day. My family didn't have a car to drive away so we were left with no choice but to stay in the city. On the first day of war, I heard explosions. We ran to the bathroom as we were told it was safe to hide behind two walls.
My first thought was - oh, my home is between school and the hospital, they won't hit there, it's safe. On the next day, russians started bombing schools and kindergartens. During the first days, those were the exact places where people were hiding in the basements and volunteers would gather there. russians knew exactly what they were hitting. In Chernihiv, they destroyed 27 out of 34 schools and 37 out of 52 kindergartens. Just imagine how much it is, and it is only one city.
There was another problem - my house was built during the USSR and it was not safe; with the explosion, the whole building would collapse. I have talked with my grandmother from my father's side and she has invited us to stay at their place, so we could hide in their basement. There were a lot of people, children crying, people panicking and their lungs filling up with dust. The first night nobody could sleep, it was too frightening. After the war started all we heard were explosions. russia has chosen a violent strategy - as they couldn't get inside the city, they started bombing it at night. Planes would fly at 12 p.m. and around 4-5 in the morning to drop the bombs. As I am writing this it feels surreal to have lived through this, and even more crazy to be alive right now.
Most people left the city and were leaving every day. Do you know russian roulette? The lethal game where there's a bullet that could kill you every time you spin a revolver? Well, leaving the city was a russian roulette; you were lucky if a russian did not shoot you. The city was under a blockade for 2 months, where they trapped us in a circle. It was too dangerous to gamble with your life, we weren't ready to do that. I know people that tried to leave and died and I can't even imagine how many people have died on the road.
On the night of 11 March, we heard a massive explosion, the house was shaking on the 11th floor. It was the day after we had no electricity, water, service and Internet for 1 month. Getting news and updates was crucial during the war, our lives literally depended on it. Also, connection with friends and family has kept our hope alive, and they knew we were alive, at least.
There is nothing people cannot adapt to, so we figured out a way to live through this. All this time we were sleeping in the basement, then waking up and going to wait in queues. As the city was under blockade, the supply of food, and medicaments was cut off. We could spend 5 hours waiting to buy pills that were needed for my grandparents. We were lucky if he could buy it and not just waste time. Food was also a problem, all together my family was made up of7 people, and we needed to buy enough food for ourselves. So we would also wait in queues for 5-6 hours to buy something. As the electricity was cut off, ATMs were not working, and all we had was limited amounts of cash. And with the supply problems, prices were 2 or 3 times higher than usual. Then there was an electricity problem - we needed our phones to work, later there would be some bad service so we could phone our relatives to let them know we are okay. In some places, people were bringing out electric generators so that others could charge their phones. Generators work from fuel and we also didn't have a lot of this in the city. So practically my routine was to spend the night in the basement, wake up and wait 5 hours for the pills/food, cook something, go find some water (which would always be a different place), charge my phone, then it is 6 p.m., dark and we are going to the basement. As a lot of people were waiting in queues, russians started to hit directly at them. It was a queue for bread - 16 people dead. russians are not human.
23 March - my 20th birthday. And I never could have imagined I would spend it under blockade. When I woke up, russians blew up a bridge from the city. People were using that road to evacuate, bringing some supplies to the town, now it was gone. It was a river bridge and we became completely cut off from the outside. Then I could only imagine the worst outcome - russian occupation which has brought on many deaths in other cities like Irpin, Izum, Bucha (there happened a Bucha massacre, 458 civilians dead, who were raped, tortured and killed). russian soldiers have no mercy and occupation is the worst-case scenario. I sympathize with every person who had to live through that and I blame russians for every death. My tears and sorrow have turned into anger and I speak for every Ukrainian when I say that we will never forgive russia for this.
7 April - russia has left Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. I never could have imagined that russia would leave. They left so that they could focus on the east and south of Ukraine and occupy more territory. It was a small silent victory for us that didn't feel like it. So many people, civilians and our soldiers, have died during these 1.5 months that we couldn't believe it. When the russians were leaving, they left for us cemeteries with our people to find. We were left with grief and pain that could never go away.
I couldn't imagine getting back to ordinary life, where I could sleep in my bed, shower, eat and go out with friends, walk through the city. I cannot describe how grateful I am for the life I can have now. This is not only my life - I carry the lives of people that have died protecting me, my country and my peace.
The total area of the occupied territory is 123,229.33 square kilometers or about 20% of the territory of Ukraine. For better imagining - this is equal to Austria and Switzerland together. Donezk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea are Ukrainian territories and we are fighting for them.
Why did I write my story? My country didn’t deserve bombing, my people don`t deserve getting killed every day. If you will meet any Ukrainians, please be considerate about what you’re telling them. If you still talk to russians and think there are still good people, remember that after those deaths soldiers came home and brought to their wives our jewelry, laptops, even fridges. Those russians still pay taxes and this military is killing Ukrainians. russians were so afraid of their mobilization that they immigrated to Georgia. They had the nerve to go to the country that russia attacked in 2008. russians can still travel to so many countries and you can’t even know if they support our genocide. When there was news about bombs in our cities, russians were leaving comments about how they should kill more of us, about how we don’t deserve to live.
Right now, russia is still attacking Ukraine and killing our people. Please, don‘t look away from this crisis. If you can, support Ukraine in any way you can. Protesting is a helpful way you can show support without spending any money.
How Iran is helping russia
russia is a terrorist state that is killing Ukrainians.
Over the last week, russia launched a massive attack across the entire Ukraine hitting civilians and critical infrastructure with at least 100 Iranian drones.
During the recent attack on Kyiv on 17 October, five people were killed in their homes on the not-so-peaceful Monday morning. A 6-months pregnant woman has died with her husband in his arms.
Iran agreed to deliver even more deadly weapons to russia. Even more, Iranian military trained russian terrorists on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to help launch drones. Iranian government is killing its own people, and suppressing protesters, who fight against totalitarian regimes.
Those who strive for freedom can not be silent — they choose to fight against terror. Since the beginning of the invasion, Ukrainians have felt the support of the Iranian people in our fight against russia’s terrorist state. Terror does not know borders, though. Now Iranians fight for their own freedom at home, too.
We have a common goal — we fight for a world where people’s freedoms and human rights flourish.
Last words
When the war started, I was so grateful for all the countries that welcomed Ukrainian refugees and treated us nicely. Even when I didn't go to another country, Europe welcomed my friends and I am forever grateful for that.
Even during this time I have found strength in me to have hope, to love, to be grateful for all I have even when I had little, to be appreciative and kind. Every attack on Ukraine breaks my heart into pieces and I hope my country will be free someday, as it was before.
Thank you for listening to my story, this is definitely a hard topic and I hope that you can be extra grateful today: for your friends and family, your loved ones, your pets, your abilities and your future. I needed some time after the blockade to live again. It was a hard journey, not going to lie, where I would be afraid of every sound. If you`re having a hard time, just take your time for healing. Have a great day.