The Duka Family
Will Have A House
Thanks to Dell Loy Hansen

This family has three people: Oleg, Alla, and Alla’s mother – Alla Viktorovna, who is 83. On March 6, Alla and Oleg went to another city to escape the war. Alla Viktorovna refused to go and said she would never leave her home. There was a well in the courtyard of their house, and she decided that she would be fine because there would always be water. Then she could not even think that their home could be destroyed. Alla Viktorovna invited Oleg’s mother to live with her, who also refused to leave Irpin. So women lived without electricity and gas, caring for their own and neighbor’s dogs and hoping that this hell would end soon.

On March 23 at 9 am, their dog started to whine. They went out into the yard, thinking the dog was whimpering because he was hungry. But the dog was wounded by shrapnel. The bombardment was so intense that among the strong explosions, the women did not realize that the shell had flown near their house and injured the dog. They wanted to save the dog and rushed to him. At that moment, a rocket flew into their house. It is a miracle that they were not in it at that moment. The dog could not be saved, but they survived. In the house hallway, women kept a bag with documents in case they had to leave urgently. They managed to grab this bag from the burning house, but they could not save their beloved cat. She died. Then the women discovered that Oleg’s mother’s apartment was gone too: it was also destroyed by shelling. They buried the dog near the house. They themselves went to live in a shed near the house. It was terribly cold, but they had nowhere to go. Now the whole family (Alla, Oleg and their mothers) live with neighbors. Part of the neighbor’s family has left, so they have an extra room. The neighbors will return in the spring, and the Duka family will have to return to the shed.