Families in Ukraine who spent almost a year in air raid shelters speak of their horror when they were bombarded with Russian missiles.
Mothers spoke of hiding with their young children in bunkers in the western city of Kharkiv after the war broke out, resulting in an exodus of eight million refugees and the displacement of some 6.5 million people in Ukraine. less than 20 miles from the border with Russia,
The incessant shelling at the start of the war left parts of Ukraine’s second largest city in ruins and claimed many civilian lives. Within months, families whose homes had been destroyed were herded into underground cellars to seek shelter from Russian attacks.
Due to the concentration of Vladimir Putin’s armed forces on civilian infrastructure, many residents are left without heating and electricity in winter.
Frightened children often huddled in cold, damp shelters without electricity during online lessons.
They are among more than two million Ukrainians who received humanitarian aid as part of a £400 million fundraising campaign organized by the Emergency Management Committee (DEC), a partnership of 15 leading charities. I Readers donate over £850,000 to rescue aid.
Mavka, 39, a disabled mother, described how she fled to a bomb shelter with her eight-year-old daughter Olesya during the invasion of Russia on February 24 last year. [not their real names]when explosions were heard that destroyed their store and the street on which it stood.
“Everyone was running outside and the parents were holding the kids so they wouldn’t get lost,” she said. “When we got to the shelter, there were a lot of people there. I held Olesya tightly so as not to lose her in the crowd.
“After we settled in, we made homemade ‘beds’ of chairs for the children, and we adults sat on cardboard boxes on the floor and tried to hide our fear from the children. Bombs could be heard from the street and I stayed but drank water to hide my fear until I realized I needed to ration it.
“We stayed in this shelter until the explosions stopped and it was safe to go home. We thought the nightmare was over, but when we got home, it all started again.”
They eventually found another underground bunker full of people, dogs and cats, where helpers from the homeless organization Depaul partnered with DEC CAFOD and Plan International to bring hot food “through explosions and bullets”.
Therapists also came to the aid of injured children, including Olesya, who did not go outside for two months.
“Olesya did not understand what happened. She couldn’t cope with her stress and was shaking a lot because she didn’t know what to do,” Mavka said. “I just managed to calm her down and fall asleep again, and then the explosions started again. It’s been like that for three months now.
“When Depaul came back, they brought hot food and our kids ate. Slowly, everyone came to their senses – they realized that someone is helping us, they are not letting us down.
In the last 11 months after the Russian invasion, 49-year-old Yuliya was forced to stand in cold, damp and dark shelters with her two terrified children until 24:00, when Kharkiv was rocked by explosions.
Surviving alone on the water for days with rockets flying overhead, the family hid in several basements before fleeing to a deeper shelter with stronger walls.
Julia said: “We couldn’t believe this was happening to us, our children, in the 21st century. For six days we hid in different cellars of our house.
“When a rocket fell near the first basement, knocking out the door and blocking the entrance, we left with such relief.
“Many wanted to leave and some did, but leaving was not safe. We heard about many bad things that happened on the streets from people who tried to walk but couldn’t. It didn’t let me go anywhere.”
During a power outage that can last for several days, the orphanage is enveloped in darkness, forcing children to forgo online classes.
After the family home was destroyed, DePaul’s aides provided them with food, blankets, pillows, and beds made from crutches.
Yuliya, who worked as a teacher before the war, added: “Now it is impossible to live in our house. It will be completely demolished, without heating, electricity and gas. The floors have been torn down. Everything we did to make it a cozy home for our children is gone. We’re just grateful that we’re here together and that we’re still alive.
“We have made many new friends and acquaintances here, and we all support each other as best we can. We have established comfort, society and life here. Though I don’t think I could call it “live”. Living in a basement is not living.”
The DEC fundraiser also helped provide generators and food to refugees living in bomb shelters, as well as providing incubators for dozens of premature babies in hospitals and supporting schools for children fleeing the conflict. Nearly two million people also received access to clean water and 75,000 trauma kits distributed to the civilian population to treat injuries or stop bleeding during the first six months of the war.
As refugees fled across the country’s border, DEC funds were also used to set up a database tracking unaccompanied children in Moldova and to open three specialized schools for Ukrainian youth in Poland.
last March I worked with the DEC to support refugees forced from their homes or trapped, and readers raised a total of £858,624.
Madara Hettiarachchi, DEC’s director of programs and accountability, said the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is “so big, so widespread and so devastating.”
She said: “The amount of funds raised is impressive – over £400m – meaning DEC members and their local partners can continue to provide support as we know the conflict is far from over. DEC’s charities have helped hundreds of thousands of people by providing hot meals, cash payments for people’s basic needs, access to health care, legal assistance, and temporary housing.
“This would not have been possible without the support of community groups, businesses, sports organisations, grant providers, arts organizations and most importantly the UK public including I News anchors – who made this call such a success.”
Source: I News
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.