Arinas Story
"The bus driver gave me candy to comfort me"
My name is Arina, I am 8 years old and I have been learning piano for 2 years. I live with my family in Bucha. On the morning of February 24, 2022, I was woken up early by my parents. They told me that the war had started and we had to leave the city quickly.
I remember that we hurriedly carried the most important things into our car and took my two favorite cats with us. From Bucha we drove to the west of Ukraine to Lviv.
My grandparents and other relatives stayed in the Kiev region. After all, no one could believe that such a terrible war was waiting for us.
My relatives fell into occupation. As time went by, the light and the connection in Bucha disappeared.
We were all very worried about our relatives. At the beginning of March, my grandpa managed to escape and joined us in Lviv. We all lived together in one small room. My grandpa slept on the floor. There were other families from Kiev, Kharkov and Chernihiv living in the house, and I celebrated my eighth birthday with them – my new friends.
As the situation was becoming too dangerous my mother decided to go abroad with me and my brother Rostyk. On March 17 we crossed the border to Germany. I remember exactly that day, because just when we arrived at the border, we got a call telling us that a few hours ago my uncle had been shot by a Russian soldier and my brother Yura had been wounded. Mom was so desperate and wanted to turn back immediately, but my dad forbade it and said we should travel on to a safe place. We found it in Hamburg.
We cried all the way, the bus driver gave me candy to comfort me.
In Germany, many people helped us. Here I went to school. But one of the happiest moments was when we were given a synthesizer. My mother printed out music sheets and we all played on it.
In August we finally returned to Bucha. And I don’t want to leave home anymore.