Hello everyone from the town of Lyman, Donetsk Oblast. My first name is Olena, the last name is Korshunova. Currently, I am 41 and have a nice and beloved 14-year-old son. I have completed higher legal education and, before Russia`s full scale invasion, I worked as a lawyer and an assistant judge in home town. Since the war began, I lost my work, but I don’t give up, try to help others to acquire new knowledge and skills and in my free time I draw, embroider, and grow flowers.
It is difficult to describe everything, what I had to go through after February 24, 2022. For me, it isn’t the first experience, connected with war. In 2014, my town was already in the epicenter of hostilities, but then I stayed at home. To briefly describe February 24 and the following days, it is a state of shock. I understood and saw everything, but at the same time I did not believe that all this was true, that all this was happening to us.
The situation became worse and worse with each passing day. We constantly heard shots, loud explosions. It was simply unbearable. I was very worried about my son, because he is the dearest person I have in this life. We kept up as much as we could, hoping that this horror would end soon. But finally, I and son got away on evacuation train on April 7, 2022. From that day, the only one image comes to mind: my son’s hand in mine, backpacks on shoulders and the road to nowhere. We wanted to believe that we would return in a month, but it did not happen as expected. As of today, the town of Lyman doesn’t almost exist, 70 % of buildings here were destroyed by Russian invaders, people, remaining in the town, literally survive.
I found out about the VILNI project from the Facebook post. I always liked knitting, which my mother taught me. Then I began to improve my skills with online master classes. So, I thought: “why not” and submitted an application to take part in the project.
When I am knitting, I calm down. Even if I was very nervous up to that moment, with knitting needles in my hands, I gradually return to calm state of mind. I usually don't think about anything else when I'm knitting except whether I'm doing well. Therefore, knitting reminds me of meditation - when you can let go of all thoughts and just knit stitch by stitch.