Olya, Dner / Germany

At home, each of us has men left: who is in the army, who is in territorial defense. On the day of my departure, my husband went to the unit, and two days before that, his father, who had passed Afghanistan, also went to defend the country. One of my friends, who moved from the zone occupied in 2014, also took the oath.
On the other hand, my father stayed at home, believing the propaganda media, confident that since Puilo said that civilians are not being shot at, then it is. For the sake of the channels “Culture” and “Science 2.0”, I did not try to restrict access to Russian satellite channels, and for 8 years my father was completely brainwashed and deprived of critical thinking.
Each of our conversations ends with nonsense, which he retransmits from the Russian media. My sister did the maximum — she took me and my child away. The journey to the volunteers who sheltered us took 7.5 days. I can’t even imagine how hard it was for her to leave her husband and adult son.
Even after leaving, we continue to see the siren signals in the chat rooms and channels of the city. A week after leaving, after the first five-hour alarm, I realized that I had left correctly and took my son away. But how I want to go home, take a gun… I curse my damn pacifism, because of which I did not enter the military department at the time.
From the beginning of the war to the departure, time passed in work. On the weekend — the preparation of Molotov cocktails and an unsuccessful attempt to donate blood for donation. There were so many applicants that there were huge queues in blood banks, and groups 1 and 2 were not accepted at all. I have never seen such a national unity before. Everyone who stayed behind will volunteer in their free time.
When the air alarm sounded for the first time, my husband and I were not at home. We called my son and told him where to go. It was the very first time my son was so scared. If it wasn’t for the desire to hide him, I wouldn’t have left at all.