"I woke up at five in the morning from the explosions." Ukrainians about the first day of the war

The words "fraternal people" regarding Ukrainians today sound as a mockery. But this is actually so - it is difficult to recall another country with which Russians connects so many related and friendly connections. On the first day of the war, correspondents of the North. Realia talked with their friends from Ukraine about how they survived the beginning of the Putin's "special operation in the Donbass."

On the first day of the war, according to the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, 137 troops were killed, of which 10 were officers, another 316 Ukrainian troops were wounded. The Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet reported the losses of its army. The UN reports that on the first day about 100 thousand people left Ukraine.

"Tanks drove to us"

What is officially called the "special military operation" in Russia, residents of Ukraine call the war. In just a few hours, the country's life has changed radically. In many areas, the sounds of shots are heard, rockets sparkle, tanks drive along the roads. At gas stations, gasoline ends, in stores there are huge lines. The electronic payment banking system does not cope with the increased load, it turns out to pay the card only in supermarkets. People try to withdraw cash, but it is also limited to ATMs. According to Ukrainians - no more than 1000 hryvnias in their hands.

- Yes, I don’t even have this money - Olga Zhuk laughs sadly, a pensioner from a small city of Akhtyrka Sumy region is trying not to lose heart. “I'm sure it's all temporary.” Yes, and there are chickens with a greenhouse ...

In the morning, her daughter came to her in the morning, Daria Frost, with two children, a dog and a cat. He says the "alarming suitcase" was collected in the evening. They live in the city center, on the fifth floor of a five -story building. Nearby - four military units, she did not wait for an accidental shell - she moved to her mother to the outskirts, to the private sector.

-My eldest 15-year-old daughter gathered an alarm. Very responsibly approached the question. I went through all the documents. Well, the "disturbing" - a bicycle first -aid kit was lying at home, here it was taken, documents and a couple of clean socks and panties. And the clothes that are on yourself. That's all. The cat only had to be stuffed into the pillowcase in the backpack. Not to searches for carrying now, ”says Daria.

In schools, they introduced distance learning for two days, but instead of lessons, children correspond with friends and inform each other who saw the tanks and where. Daria Moroz herself was on a shift that night, which so far became the last. The hotel complex in which it works has suspended its activities.

- At 04:45 I listened to the speech of your president, at 05:15 the first shots were heard. The missiles took off from the side of Belgorod. I have never been so scared. And at that moment I was not even shelling, but the fact that my children are not nearby. I immediately grabbed the phone and began to call the girls, ”says Daria.

After she phoned her ex -husband. In such a situation, not up to everyday disagreement. He lives in the village of Pisarevka, four km from the border with Belgorod and 45 km from Akhtyrka.

- Tanks drove to us. They do not touch the peaceful population, they just stand in the center, right in front of the village council. Where did Russian technology come from there - no one knows, ”her husband told her.

On the first day of the war, even pharmacies stopped working in Akhtyrka.

- Today, people simply did not go to work in the bulk. Everyone rushed to stir up in shops. I didn't. There is a pack of pasta, there is also feed animals. Still enough. I just assume that I will not stay in place. I will run to where it is safer. But while we are in the ring, from all sides, Russian equipment and attacks. We will not even run through Belarus. I still do not know where to go, we will look from the circumstances. Zelensky is waiting for NATO help, but for now we see that no one needs us. And we can only hope for ourselves. I am most afraid that there will be a repetition of history with Syria. It was not for nothing that Putin remembered her several times, - Daria Moroz shares his fears.

Another resident of Akhtyrki Nikita Padalko at the time of the Correspondent Sever. Reali sat in the cellar with the whole family.

“They shoot next to us,” he explained. - They were forced to go down to the basement with a one -year -old child and grandmother 84 years old. Refuelings are burning and military units are sheated.

According to him, the city was empty in half an hour. Huge lines in stores resolved instantly as soon as people heard the first shots: "Everyone rushed to hide where."

Fighting by demarcation

Nikita has been working in Poland from 18, he drives heavy trucks. Recently he got married. In mid -February, he came home for his son’s birthday - he was a year old - and at the same time draw up documents. The other day I was going to go back to work. Now he will not be released from the country - the authorities of Ukraine declared martial law, and Nikita is military liable. He also lost his job overnight, and how to keep his family now has no idea. From February 22, Poland opened the borders, having removed coronavirus restrictions, for all tourists - except for the citizens of Russia and Belarus.

In the regions of Ukraine, occupied eight years ago, today is calmer than in the territory controlled by Kyiv. Olga Smotrova lives in Taganrog, but in Donetsk she has relatives. He says that local residents are convinced that the operation was planned in advance.

- My niece gave birth to a boy on February 21. And she sits there in Donetsk. In fact, so far everything is fine. Cities do not bomb. Bombing airports, airports of air defense. They say that at first there will be suppression of enemy points, and then the troops will be introduced. Mobile communications, the niece said that on Monday they would turn off for a couple of days. But they did not turn it off. They have the Internet. I just hope that it will be a blitz-cross and there will be nothing for us. Fights are going on throughout the demarcation line, and fighting also under Mariupol. And in Odessa a large trading port - a smoke curtain above it, ”said Olga.

Her other relatives live in Mariupol: "They also sit and wait for what will happen next." In the morning, Alfa-Bank ATMs did not work in Taganrog itself, Skorova adds.

The Kaliningrada Ruslan in the "LPR" had elderly parents. Mother and father live in the center of Lugansk, and there, according to Ruslan, the fighting is not underway at the moment.

- Everything is calm in the city, you know, the battles are going in a suburbs of Donetsk, Lugansk is further. My parents live in the center, this is 15 kilometers to the outskirts of the city. On the outskirts it was heard, but in the city itself everything is calm and quiet. The city lives a normal life. There is both the Internet and mobile communications. But all people are praying so that it all ends faster, because people are tired of living like this. Enough already bullying people, ”says Ruslan.

He asked his parents not to leave the house because he was afraid of provocations. In the future, he plans to come to Lugansk and either stay there or pick up his parents from there. The Kaliningrad region is ready to accept 300 evacuated, but as Ruslan notes, most of his acquaintances leave for the Rostov region: "Bus and trains were sent there. The Rostov region is territorially close to Lugansk. And to get to Kaliningrad, you need to overcome a lot of difficulties. Now you can fly out of all airports, but there is no direct flight."

"Explosions are heard all the time"

A wonderful Russian poet, citizen of Ukraine Irina Essa, lives in Kharkov.

“Today I woke up at five in the morning from the explosions,” she says. - I immediately realized that this was not firecrackers, threw a bathrobe into the night shirt and went to wake the neighbors. Explosions are heard all the time. Zelensky has already said that heavy battles are going on our district road and in Dergachi - and this is already a suburb of Kharkov. In the news there is such a stream of information that it is very difficult to figure out what's what, what is true and what an exaggeration. There were a video about battles on the district road, in Lutsk there are also explosions, this is Western Ukraine, and in Chuguev explosions, and this is already very close to us. I ordered water yesterday-two 20-liter bottles, but I realized that today they would not bring it to me, I went myself, bought at least some water. The funny thing that my daughter-in-law from New York writes to me: Urgently make a visa, go to us, and I say: what a visa?! There are no flights, the sky is closed, and where is the American embassy now - in general, what to talk about.

- Explosions are heard close, but there are bomb shelters in Kharkov, if that?

-In fact, we have a certain card with bomb shelters, but so that we clearly know where to run, this is not. My neighbor Natasha says that there is a basement in our house - maybe if anything, you have to run into the basement. And the explosions are heard all the time. In the city everywhere in the lines - in banks, people, of course, withdraw money, people collect backpacks, are loaded into cars, try to leave the city, because of Kharkov 30 kilometers from the border. But now you won’t understand where it is more dangerous - on the overloaded highway, where anything you want can happen, or in the city itself. There are no reliable options.

- B eat from Kharkov - where, to Kiev?

- No, there are also problems. Someone is trying to go to Western Ukraine, but this is not such a close path-it is still alive to get. In general, something incredible is going on. It is clear that it went to this, but it seemed to me that it was like that - to shoot directly so that the explosions would not happen. We have such a sleeping area of the Northern Saltovka - so, Kharkiv residents are being removed and show that the explosions are already there. But there are even no objects, it is just a residential array. I don’t know what to say, I don’t understand what to do. Well, here, I collect this alarming backpack, I put everything there - in case. But what will be this “case, if” no one understands. In my opinion, only an absolutely crazy person could arrange this, just completely distraught.

-Does Kharkov's reproduction somehow support you?

- Yes, the mayor of Kharkov calls not to panic, says that in case of danger there will be sirens. But still it is clear that everywhere there is a panic, people have a different rank. I really hope that our mayor will calmly hold on, that he has some kind of clear plan. I was standing behind cigarettes in a kiosk, and in front of me are two dozen men, rescuers. I ask them: what will happen, what to do next? They say: we don’t know, but if you still have water from the tap, go, just in case, type water. I went, scored water.

- And what about your products?

- It is impossible to buy bread - both bread and buckwheat, everyone was daring. I went to the store, which is right in my house, there is such a queue - probably, so they stood in the blockade for bread. The bread ended instantly. And wherever I go - everywhere in line: kiosks with water and cigarettes, stores, bank terminals have a lot of people. I thought, I should go and take off my pension, but there is such a queue, and this is not very close to the house - if anything, I don’t know if I can run away. In general, in war, as in war. And now we were inside. It is very difficult to prepare for such things, first of all, morally-it all seems that this simply should not happen that this is some kind of bad fantasy. But now - the moment has come when this bad fantasy becomes a bad reality.