Greetings! I am Olena Tkachova from the city of Severodonetsk, Luhansk region. For 59 years of my life, I received two higher educations, worked as a programmer, economist and chief auditor at Oschadbank JSC. But one of my main life achievements is my daughter, who is now 23 years old.
After a full-scale Russian invasion, the Luhansk branch of Oschadbank was disbanded, employees were dismissed, so I lost my job, which I devoted a lot of time and effort to. But I don't sit idly by. I graduated copywriting courses. With interest, I helped my daughter find information on the defense of Master's theses in tourism and translation. I read a lot, mostly fiction. I love music and gardening. I became interested in cooking and cook something delicious for my family. I still walk a lot and get acquainted with the Lviv region.
For the first time, the war came to our city back in 2014. Then we left, waited for the liberation of Severodonetsk, and then returned home. This time, the war reached the city in a week. Already in early March, the city began to be shelled by Russians. The worst thing was on the night of March 8, when at four in the morning we woke up from terrible explosions. The street was as bright as day. All the windows in our apartment fell down. The front door fell out. We went down to the basement and almost never came out. There were a lot of us there, because we live in a nine-story building. People from two entrances were hiding in one basement. The basement was very dirty and cold. There was no communication, no gas, no electricity. There was no water either.
Another moment is particularly firmly stuck in my memory. Once the shelling started. They shot at our area. We have already learned to distinguish where missiles are flying. Suddenly, the huge house shuddered and even seemed to jump. But it survived. When we went out to look, we saw that the shell entered the ground about a meter from the house. We were saved by a neighboring house-the entire fifth floor there was demolished.
That was the last drop. After this incident, we decided to run away from the city. There was no point in staying. So, on March 13, early in the morning, as soon as the curfew ended, we ran to the place where people were gathering to leave the city. Before that, we tried to get there for two days (it's about 30-40 minutes on foot), but each time the shelling started. It also started on that day, March 13, 2022, but we have already paid no attention to this. We just ran...
What motivated me? Fear. The desire to be saved. What did I feel and feel now? Pain, because since 2014 I have seen how much grief this war has brought. I worked with displaced persons from Luhansk, and I saw people from the occupied territories in the bank. I saw how many lives were destroyed by the Russian invaders.
Now my city is occupied. There is almost no life there. The Russian occupation authorities are doing something there for propaganda purposes, and some houses even have electricity and water. But there are almost no people there. Before the war, it was a city of chemists, builders and scientists. There was a chemical plant, there were many research institutes, and students studied in higher educational institutions. There's nothing right now....
When we left, we were accepted by our relatives in the Lviv region. They themselves went abroad. At first, we lived in hopes. My daughter was finishing her studies remotely. We hoped that we would eventually come back and get a job again. But the hopes were not fulfilled after the capture of Severodonetsk by the enemy. It became very difficult about a few months later, when it was no longer so scary and I realized that I was among people, but not with them.
I had the opportunity to go abroad. But I feel so much that my roots are here that I should be together with those who are now defending my Luhansk region and other cities, at least together sympathize and pray for victory. I couldn't bear to leave Ukraine. If I was forced to leave my home, then at least my homeland should have remained.
I couldn't get a job, even though I tried. Apparently, my pre-retirement age also played a role here. I always worked, devoted a lot of time to work, and so it was hard for me to be just a housewife. So, I bought some threads and started knitting. I also read a lot. When I was asked what kind of gift I want for my birthday, and I have it in March, I asked for an e-book. I also kept in touch with friends, colleagues, and relatives who settled all over Ukraine – in Khmelnytskyi, Volyn, Rivne regions, Uzhhorod and other cities. I talked to my peers from the university, with whom I almost lost touch, but they found me and supported me. Someone even offered me a temporary job, and I was very grateful for that.
And so, when I started looking for information on how to earn at least a little extra money, because I still need to live somehow to retirement, information about the VILNI project appeared on Facebook. And I am very happy that now I have new friends and like-minded people who are in love with knitting.
I can't sit around at all. When I have free time, I always knit. This was the same during the coronavirus. So, it is now. Therefore, I was happy to join the project. And I've been knitting since I was a kid. I learned it myself, because it was very interesting. At the institute, my friend was very good at knitting, and I also learned something from her. I really liked to knit sweatshirts, sweaters, skirts, vests and so on. I really enjoy this process. At this time, I am free to think and do what I like, what interests me. For example, I listen to audiobooks, especially detective stories.