Nataliia: “The part of me who wants to laugh, travel and dream is still alive – and keeps me going”
Nataliia: “The part of me who wants to laugh, travel and dream is still alive – and keeps me going”
Nataliia, 56, and Hennadii, 55, were displaced from their home in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine in 2022, when the full-scale invasion started, and it became too dangerous for them to stay in their home. The couple more or less crossed the country and sought safety in a village in Rivne region in western Ukraine. With them, they brought a set of plates and cups. It reminds them, every time they set the table, of their home and a good time they had while traveling abroad before the war.
Interviewed by Alina Kovalenko, UNHCR Ukraine.
“When the war broke out, we were terrified. Shelling was like an earthquake. We were constantly spending time in the corridor, together with our two cats, who were 18 years old.
At first, we were afraid to leave Kharkiv. Shelling was said to be ravaging the surrounding areas as well. I remember when we went out to the store one day and saw tanks in the streets. It was really scary.
After a while, I began suffering from panic attacks. I realized that we can’t afford living like this anymore. We managed to stay in Kharkiv for only ten days. The last push came with a missile that hit the ground very close to where we lived. My husband and I were thrown towards the wall by the explosive wave.
“It was around that time, when our friends said they were leaving the city – and spontaneously we decided to join them. We were gathering at night in total darkness with only a flashlight showing the way. We took almost nothing with us, only the essentials and our two cats. Our friends had three cats and a dog as well. Together, we left the city and moved from the region. Unfortunately, our cats couldn’t bear the displacement and died soon after.
We spent four days travelling without knowing the final destination. By sheer luck, we found people who had spare room in the village of Olexandria in Rivne region. Here, we live in an old local house, that is more than 100 years old, and we live together with the owner of this house, a local woman Iryna, who opened her home to us. When the roof started leaking, we used to put basins and bowls in the kitchen to keep the floors dry, but we had timely support to help fix it. You know there is a saying: “the roof is leaking”, meaning not only physical, but also “mental leaking” because of the stress and whatnot. This is how we felt at the time. For the first three months, we were afraid of literally everything. I remember in May 2022, we went to a cafe for the first time. We were invited for pizza, and I just sat there and cried for no reason.
A year before the full-scale war, my father died of COVID. We didn’t even have time to put up a monument at his graveyard. My mom was also sick and passed away in 2012. By that time, I had just finished six months of chemotherapy treatment after I had cancer surgery. The doctors gave me a good prognosis, and I really hoped that everything would be fine. But fate threw all of that into doubt again.
I think my nervous system just couldn't take it. Then there were two more surgeries, then COVID. Then came the war. Continuous stress. That's why we decided to leave - I could not stand another challenge. I had complicated surgeries, and I couldn't take any more risks.
Now, things are much better. The house has been repaired, and we have calmed down a bit.
We used to have our own shoe business before the war, but now it has become impossible to keep it up.
My husband, Hennadii, discovered new skills and started doing a lot of work at home: he built a new kitchen, smoothed the walls, and replaced the old windows.
Now I am close to a different vibe – a life closer to nature. Even during the war, it helps – it fills you up from the inside. I've never gardened before, but I started here. It's nice and useful, and it takes time. Back in Kharkiv, we used to go to the movies, yoga, and the pool, but here, life is completely different.
“Even after everything we have gone through, we have managed to stay resilient.”
“I want to see my relatives very much, and I miss my friends very much. All my friends from Kharkiv have left. This is what I miss the most, not the place itself, but the people in it. This is the most painful thing.
I dream of an end to the war. Then, we can think of whether we want to stay or to return to Kharkiv. I stopped waiting for something. To be honest, it is good that we didn’t know that the war would last this long. If I had known, I wouldn’t have endured. I try to live in the present moment, but also to avoid being dependent on expectations. We will see after our victory. Maybe, we will have a new period of our lives, maybe a new business. It is not only about jobs, but also about doing something and being happy.
I don’t know what the future prepares for us. But I know this: even after everything we have gone through, we have managed to stay resilient. The part of me who wants to laugh, travel and dream is still alive – and keeps me going. It means that I am alive.”
The old rural house that Nataliia and Hennadii moved into in Rivne region was in poor condition, and last year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, through its NGO partner Rokada, supported them by repairing their roof. This is part of UNHCR's project to help internally displaced people with repair works such as replacement of windows and doors, insulation of houses and roofing work, to enable them to move into abandoned or old rural houses. As of June 2025, a total of 900 rural houses across Ukraine have been repaired and rehabilitated by UNHCR and its partners, and more are in progress.
