Amalia ID:6106 ID: 6106

My name is Amalia.  I was born in an eastern city of Ukraine. When the first part of the Ukraine – Russia war started my father went to fight for Ukraine and died on frontlines in 2016. The war line was coming closer to our district and ultimately I had to move to the north. Since then our family has lived in many cities. When a full-scale war began in February 2022 the town where we lived in at the time immediately got under occupation,  from February 24, 2022. Me, my mother, two sisters and the husband of an adult sister were caught, we did not have time to run away, the russian troops were already in our town. The first three days I was very afraid, but then I got used to it. I played with the animals that were with us in the basement and talked with the other children who could not evacuate in time and stayed. I played on the phone in the basement if I could charge it, which was not very often. It was scary to sleep at night because of the shelling, and i was grateful for the morning.  We ate what we found and I didn’t really want to eat, it was very cold and I drank tea. I was scared the first time a shell flew near our basement and we had to run to another where friends of our family were. Once a plane flew by and dropped a rocket on the house that was next to us. We have had no water, gas, or electricity since the 6th day of the war.  We found the right day and left the occupation. I really like to draw, dance, and sing. I used to go to the dance studio.  I used to attend English language courses and would like to continue studying if my family can afford it. I want to go to graphic drawing courses, but my mother cannot afford them and English courses as well. I am currently studying at an online Ukrainian school. I really want to return to my home.