Новини
How a resident of the village Kolychivka in Chernihiv region overcame her own fear and crossed a mined crossroads to help people.
Bright and sunny Lyudmyla Mykolaivna, a resident of the village of Kolychivka in the Chernihiv region, has been a retiree for six years. According to Mrs. Lyudmyla, before February 24, 2022, she was engaged in her home, household, and enjoyed time with her grandchildren. She lived well, content with her life.
“I remember this day. My child made the first call at 6 in the morning and told me terrible news. I was shaken; I didn’t know what to do or where to go… I was alone. After some time, my children came to me.”
Former Activists Never Fade Away
Lyudmyla started going to the stores (at that time, there were still three working), buying whatever she could find. In the first days, the queues were endless, and people were grabbing whatever they could because everyone was in shock. Soon, the stores closed due to a lack of goods.
At the beginning of the invasion, realizing that something needed to be done, Mrs. Lyudmyla began calling the village mayor, asking to organize bread delivery. While the bridge was not yet destroyed, bread was delivered from Chernihiv to the village. Lyudmyla Mykolaivna collected bread for the entire street, carried it, and distributed it to everyone. And when they stopped supplying bread, she partially coordinated when people organized themselves and started baking with what was available.
“Farmer Tkachenko, he brought us milk… we made ends meet as best we could.”
After the occupiers left Ivanivka, life in the village began to recover. Humanitarian aid started arriving in Kolychivka, and Lyudmyla Mykolaivna helped distribute it.
“At first, people couldn’t figure it out… Then we decided to write lists for each street and organized distribution. They began to deliver us bread… We were happy and grateful… For those who lost their home, we searched for housing.”
Crossroads
The memory of the crossroads remains imprinted in Mrs. Lyudmyla’s mind. At first, the explosions could be heard from afar, and then they started getting closer and closer. And at one moment, Kolychivka found itself at the crossroads of shelling.
“It was coming at us from Shestovychi, Ivanivka, Lukashivka, and our side was there too. We didn’t know where and what was flying at first. Then we figured out where ours were. We could be calm; it wasn’t aimed at us.”
In the center of the village, to prevent occupiers from reaching the crossroads, anti-tank mines were placed.
“Everything was laid out here, on both sides of the street. So that when they come, we could stop them…”
On the other side of the village, Mrs. Lyudmyla had grandparents who needed care. The way to them lay through the mined crossroads. For a week, the woman did not visit her relatives, and then she asked a neighbor to guide her through that intersection because she was very afraid. She couldn’t avoid visiting because her relatives were also ill. There were no medicines, no light, and no gas. Every morning, overcoming fear, Mrs. Lyudmyla ran to her relatives before the start of shelling.
Mrs. Lyudmyla did not think that she would have to experience such horror at her age…
But thoughts and concern for others overcame the feeling of fear and fueled the fire of faith in goodness and victory!
The material was prepared by Olena Kozinets and Kateryna Trofymenko as part of the educational course “Truth through Stories.”
The project is implemented by the Educational Human Rights House — Chernihiv with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as part of the local transformation project «Ukraine and Ukrainians: Modern Chronicles of the Fighting for Freedom and Democracy».
