Help
The Zdorenko Family

Anatoly and Alla Zdorenko have three daughters. Before the war, they lived with their daughter Snezhanna and granddaughter Maria (Maria is 3 years old).

On March 9, Anatoly took his family to the West of Ukraine. Before that, they hid under the bombing in their neighbors’ basement. Anatoly recalls with a sigh how scary it was to lead his family under shelling and how long they traveled from the village. Bridges were mined, and all roads were shelled. The grandchildren asked him what was happening and cried, and he reassured everyone that everything was fine and no one would shoot at them while he himself was trembling with fear. The departing family took 2 dogs and a cat with them. They said they couldn’t leave their little friends, even though they packed up in a hurry and drove in great fear for their lives. They had to leave the rabbits at home. Their neighbor stayed to wait out the fighting in the village because he was military. The family asked him to feed the rabbits and look after the house. Anatoly recalls that in 2014, when a neighbor went to war in Donbas, he took care of his neighbor’s horse, but this year he had to ask for help. On March 30, the neighbor, as always, came to feed the rabbits, then went to the house of Anatoly and Alla to watch a movie on DVD. The light went out in a couple of minutes, so he took the DVD and went home to watch the movie. A few minutes after the neighbor left their house, a rocket flew into it and completely destroyed it. Miraculously, the cages with rabbits survived, but they were shell-shocked and were sick for a very long time. The 2 rabbit cages closest to the house were destroyed, and their inhabitants were killed.

Now Alla and Anatoly live in a shed with insulated walls and a stove they installed themselves. Their daughter Snezhanna and granddaughter Maria temporarily live in another village. Their acquaintances allowed them to use their house while hiding from the war in Europe. In March 2023, these acquaintances are going to return to Ukraine. Snezhanna needs to figure out where to go with her daughter after the owners of this house return. There is no place for another bed in her parent’s shed. Snezhanna says that the acquaintances who let them into their house most likely, wouldn’t kick them out, but she understands that they will be a burden.

The Zdorenko family had a nice house. They repaired it and bought a new washing machine right before the war. To afford it, they had to take out a bank loan. The family really wanted little Maria to grow up in comfort. Nothing is left of the house… and the family is still paying off the debt on a loan for repairs and a washing machine.

The family lost all the photographs of their parents and family in the fire after the rocket. Surprisingly, they found a slightly burnt but still good photo of 18-year-old Alla in the remains of the house. That’s all that’s left of their home…

Alla works in a hospital in Kyiv. She says that they admit a lot of wounded soldiers. Alla cries, talking about the wounded defenders. She is having dreams about their tragedies and injured bodies. Anatoly works as a driver.