“I opened my eyes, there was nothing but dust in the air,” 88-year-old Raisa recalls the night which she will never forget. Sleeping peacefully in her bed, the elderly woman did not hear neither the air alarm warning of an air attack, nor the sound of explosion when one of the missiles struck her five-story residential building in the city of Zaporizhzhia in the middle of the night on 2 March.
This was the building where Raisa lived in her small apartment for many years. Lately, she was staying by her own after her husband and son died.
“The only sound I heard was the humming of dozens of engines outside my window. Only then did I realize that a rescue team had arrived on site to save our lives. I quickly grabbed what I could find – a small bag, shoes, some very basic things, I could hardly see anything and started calling for help,” continued Raisa.
This attack tragically claimed the lives of 13 civilians, including a child. Raisa was fortunate to survive – her bedroom ceiling did not collapse on top of her with the force of the blast, and she was able to escape via a window.
“The emergency services saved me. They worked so seamlessly, carrying me out as if I was as light as a feather. I remember that moment clearly – the moment of my rescue. Many people died on that day. Outside, excavators were working, scraping away the rubble, what remained from our homes and things that we used to love. It was horrifying.”
Almost three months later, when asked “How are you?”, Rasia always responds: “Better than others”.
Currently, Raisa is staying at a collective site in Zaporizhzhia with other internally displaced people from the most-affected areas in Zaporizka oblast. There is nothing left of her former life – the building partially collapsed, completely destroying her apartment, so she would not be able to return home.
Jointly with its local NGO partner Proliska, UNHCR Ukraine provided hygiene items, bedding and other relief items to Raisa, helping her to improve her living conditions and restore her dignity at the collective site. She received support to register as an internally displaced person and apply for compensation for her destroyed home. She also received psychosocial assistance to help to cope with the traumatizing experience.
“I want to stay physically and mentally active and healthy, sometimes it is not that easy, but many things encourage me. I have my healthy food routine and I walk a lot. When I look around and see what other people encountered, I realize how lucky I am to be surrounded with so many good and caring people. I survived, and I see it as a pure miracle, I pray every day to express my gratitude.”
Flexible financial support from donors like Sweden, allows UNHCR to respond to cases like Raisa’s and continue protecting forcibly displaced and war-affected people all across Ukraine.
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