STORY
Hostomel was one of the first towns to take the heat of russian attacks during the full-scale invasion. Russian troops destroyed over 4.5 thousand buildings there. The town’s infrastructure is now 80% damaged.
Mykola Ivanovych is a retired military officer. He used to serve at a local military base located near his home. On February 24th, 2022, the base was hit by an aircraft bomb. Then, the second enemy shell hit his apartment building, piercing the roof and blowing down several floors. The man and his wife had spent over a month hiding in the building’s basement.
“During the very first days, we were too afraid to even step out of the basement to see the sunlight. On the seventh day, I caught coronavirus or something. We only had a very limited stock of medicines. I had spent almost all time of the occupation lying sick in a folding bed that the neighbors brought to me. To be frank with you, I thought I wouldn’t survive.”
When russian troops finally retreated, the building was no longer suitable for living. All utilities, such as the power, gas, heat and water supply, were out of order. So, Mykola Ivanovych and his wife headed to Bucha to stay at their daughter’s building that had survived the ordeal. There, the man slowly started to recover. Around a year ago, he eventually returned home.
“You know, it feels so good to finally be at home… I have spent all my life here, after all. Memories are all around. Every morning, I go outside, sit on the bench and look at the building: let’s see, they’ve just finished repairing another floor here. They’ve already fixed the roof and replaced the windows there. Oh, look, the balcony windows are open – it means that the neighbors have returned. The town is getting back to normal life…”
Thanks to donors from all over the world, life will soon return to all 60 apartments in this building.
