Story #60. Saving the Children From the War

December 9, 2022
The story of Iryna Astakhova from Kyiv, who fled the war with her children. #UkraineWorldTestimony
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Each of us has a story from February 24. A new life began for each of us on this day... I felt stressed. Incredibly stressed. Fortunately, my crisis manager skills and experience took over. Everything happened quickly, but the most important thing was not to frighten the children.

On February 22, I packed a bag because I felt something was inevitable. Masha, Artem and I evacuated to a village near Kyiv. Of course, we took a few things, because at that time there was absolutely no idea that the war would last for a long time.

February 25. A Russian missile hit a residential building in Poznyaky (a neighborhood in Kyiv). I was already awake. I heard a hum and a whistle.

It made me feel something terribly strange. I couldn't even move, but I only prayed that the missile wouldn't hit us. A minute passed. Three explosions. It flew right above us.

Until March 1, we were near Kyiv, in the house of my in-laws (that's what I call the parents of my daughter's boyfriend). All this time, we organized life for 20 people in a single house as best we could. On that day, in the morning, we heard a firefight nearby, so we decided to go further.

We were on the road to Poland for almost 3 days. Our last night in Ukraine was in Lviv. My heart was so heavy. I missed this city so much. Each street, each building reminded me of something. This is not how I wanted to return to Lviv after 3 years. That night we also heard the sirens for the first time.

On March 3, in the morning, we left for abroad. By that evening, we were already in Warsaw. To distract myself from disturbing thoughts, I plunged into my work. Thank God that I still have it. Here began a new stage of my life in new realities.

Now I'm even more convinced that I know how to bring order to chaos, see what others don't notice, and adjust processes where necessary (even remotely).


This material was prepared with financial support from the International Renaissance Foundation.