Story of Liudmyla, returnee in Kotlyareve, Mykolaiv region, South Ukraine.  

Photo Caption:

Liudmyla, 81 years old, and her friend Varvara, in the yard of her house in Kotlyareve, Mykolaiv region, South Ukraine.
Liudmyla left her village in March 2022 and returned in November the same year.

Full story:
Liudmyla is 81 years old. She lives with her daughter in Kotlyareve, a village located a few kilometers aways from the administrative border between Mykolaiv et Kherson, Southern Ukraine. Villages in the area were largely oblirated during hostilities until Kherson was retaken by UAF in November 2022.

Lyudmila was born in Luhansk region. She came to South Ukraine with her husband, and she has been living for 48 years in Kotlyareve. She used to work there for 20 years as primary school teacher. In the village, there used to be 28-30 pupils before the full-scale invasion started.

“The war has begun in February, and two weeks later we left because of the missile strikes here, and explosions. The house was shaking. It was scary, very scary. We had 15 minutes for packing. I had one suitcase only, I took documents and some sweater, very little, I didn't have clothes to change to. My granddaughter came and said "grandma we don't have place for your clothes there". The personal car was small, we were 6 people, a dog and three cats.”, Lyudmila shared.

“I came back in November 2022, so already more than a year ago. On TV, they said that Kherson was retaken by UAF, so I immediately took my suitcase and came back”, Liudmyla explained. “Being at home is better than anything else, even if there are missiles or drones flying here, over us.”, she added.

Liudmyla remains nevertheless stressed by the security situation: “The day before yesterday, they attacked Mykolaiv very harsh, my granddaughter said that they were hiding in the basement all night long. We hear sirens and explosions every day. At night, I am afraid to sleep, I am scared that they will cover us with missiles/explosions. When I see it, that I already feel bad, I take the motherwort to help me, and sleep for two hours but when I wake up, it is the same, I can't sleep.”

Upon return, she found her house in a poor condition: “There was no gas, the pipes were broken, there was no water in the house. The whole roof was damaged. It was falling somewhere there, it was leaking here, all was covered with water, in that room. 15 holes in the roof. The rains were pouring in, it was wet inside. At first, the neighbor was looking after the house, I gave him keys, the dog was still here, so he fed the dog. And then he left, the dog was let out, ran around the village to find something to eat. When I came back, I found the dog, she recognized me. Nine months I was not here, but she recognized me.”, Liudmyla shared.

“I came in November and in December 2022 they started to repair the pipes and on 12th of January 2023 I was connected to the gas, I was one of the first ones, because pipes are underground but for those who had the pipes overground, they are broken terribly, and it took longer. Electricity was for two hours; I turned the heater on in my room and after two hours it was switched off and then whole day without electricity. So, I spent the night with my neighbor, and came to my house here during the day to clean up. A month later my daughter arrived”.

Liudmyla now lives on her pension and humanitarian assistance. Her daughter also helps. She was first assisted by former pupils to make some repairs in her house. She then received assistance by NRC to repair her roof.