As Russian assault continues, terrified people in Ukraine spend sleepless night

A
woman in her late 20s shared her horrific experience as Russian artillery kept
hurling bombs on Ukrainian soil above her.

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Valentyna
Dylova lives in Kharkiv, a city in north-eastern Ukraine, and now she is living
inside an underground metro station-turned-bomb shelter. She is among the many
terrified people who are spending terrible time as Russian President Vladimir
Putin decided to run a ‘special military operation’ in neighbouring Ukraine.

Ukrainians share belongings among themselves 

As
the crisis deepens, Ukrainians shared food and water among themselves as
incessant bombing keeps destroying properties. People in the subway
used blankets to protect themselves from cold.

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“I
am not alone,” Dylova was quoted as saying by Newsweek. “I am with my husband and
hundreds of people who are hiding and waiting for the bombarding—for the attack
of Russian troops again. They are here with pets, they are lying on the floor
with children, small children.

“They
sleep here, try to sleep some of them. Others try to stay strong. Some of
them even communicate, make friends and do everything to cheer up each
other,” she continued.

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Unsure about next move

She
is unsure about her next move as Russia “want to make their land corridor to
the Crimea that they invaded and escalated”.

“At
the moment the safest place is underground. Now, it is not safe to go out at
all and as we see on our official news and the direction of the Russian border,
they want to make their land corridor to the Crimea that they invaded and
escalated,” she said.

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Dylova,
an English teacher by profession, hails from the village of Yakymivka, near
Melitopol and Zaporizhia, in the southeastern part of Ukraine. She is now
spending sleepless nights with her 10-year-old brother and parents living in
the southern part of Ukraine closer to the Russian border. Dylova has tried to
communicate with them, since “they are very close to the situation”
and in proximity to areas that contain Russian military presence.

“I
feel the support of our people,” she said. “The most horrible thing
is that you don’t know what to expect the next moment and when it will be
finished.”

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Not trusting the information

She
is not trusting the information she has heard, saying that it has been
difficult to get accurate information and that some information may be
intentionally false. She said she has recently spoken to her brother, who told
her he did not want to die and is petrified.

“I
think that all children around Ukraine are feeling like this now. Most of the
Ukrainians thought it couldn’t be possible in the 21st century,” she said.
“We thought that we learned the lessons of second World War, but
unfortunately no, we are doing the same mistakes and world leaders continue to
do the same mistakes and we need real actions to stop this war.”

Also Read: Watch: Ukrainian man bids goodbye to family as Russia mounts invasion

She
also pleaded with the world leaders to intervene and ask Russia to stop this war
on Ukraine. “I want the world to know first of all that we need real help,
not concerns because it’s not enough to stop Putin,” she said. “We
definitely need strong actions, not concerns. We need to do everything to stop
Russia economically, destroy their opportunities to lead this war because it
will not stop just at Ukraine. And Ukraine deserves to stay here because people
here are brave, they are free, and they are strong and they want to live in
their own country and not under the rule of some leader [Putin].”