Thread by @ukraine_world

The story of Maria Ivanyuk, who managed to leave an occupied village in Kyiv Oblast with her son. #UkraineWorldTestimony 1/13

Maria had prepared in advance for a possible full-scale 🇷🇺 invasion. A few weeks before Feb. 24, she already had bags packed with everything she needed. She always took documents and a 🎒 with a basic supply of food, medicine, and other important things when she went out. 2/13

On February 24, Maria and her husband woke up to explosions. They immediately understood where they were from. Then her husband got a phone call and they knew that Russia had indeed started a full-scale war. 3/13

Although Maria and her son planned to immediately evacuate to western Ukraine, they first stopped by her mother in the village of Buzova, Kyiv Oblast. Her two sisters, her nephew, and her younger brother had gathered at her parents' house. 4/13

Maria convinced everyone to move on urgently because Russian troops would advance towards Kyiv along the Zhytomyr highway, where their village is located. 5/13

However, Maria's mother did not want to leave her home, so her sisters hesitated. Maria could not leave herself, because she did not have a car. Unfortunately, before they could get to safety, fierce fighting began near Buzova, and the village fell under occupation. 6/13

Feb. 28, 2022, was the scariest night in Maria's life: “I was afraid not of my own death, but for my son, brother, and nephew who were with us. I had a feeling of incredible guilt for not taking them out earlier, for not saving them," Maria Ivaniuk recalls. 7/13

Maria and her family sat in the cellar where her great-grandmother and grandmother once hid from the Nazis. Now they were hiding from 🇷🇺 there. The place was so humid that they couldn’t make their lighter work, and a candle brought in from the street would immediately go out.8/13

The lime on the walls got into the humid air, and then into👃and lungs. The cellar was small & there were many people. Maria and her relatives thought that they were having panic attacks, but then they realized that it was the lack of oxygen that made it difficult to breathe.9/13

The concrete walls, floor, and ceiling also amplified the sounds of explosions and gunshots. Cracks began to appear on the rather thick concrete ceiling, so Maria's family was afraid that it would fall on them. The ground shook under and around them from the 🇷🇺 shelling. 10/13

Although Maria didn't know if she would survive that night, and even said goodbye to all her friends in a Facebook post just in case, the shelling stopped and their basement survived. Then Maria and her 3-year-old son Yura managed to leave for Lviv Oblast. 11/13

Unfortunately, after the experience, Maria's son developed severe post-traumatic stress. Even in safety, he was frightened by every noise and fell to the ground, covering his ears with his hands. Yura was also greatly distressed by the sounds of air raid sirens. 12/13

Pained by her son’s suffering, Maria decided to go abroad. They now live temporarily in Denmark and are hoping for Ukraine’s victory to come soon. 13/13