Two more girls who lost their father in the war received “safety and development” gifts as part of our joint project with @privatbank_original, Give Light to Children. These are 13-year-old Milena and 8-year-old Zhenia from Zakarpattia. No one can tell their story more meaningfully and emotionally than their mother Yevhenia:

“On my birthday, which was on the eve of the full-scale invasion, my husband came from abroad, where he had been working for several years. But a week later, Mykhailo went to the military registration and enlistment office to volunteer to protect our family from the invaders. We had coffee in the morning, he accompanied me to work, and in the evening he called and said: “I’m not coming home today…”. Since then, life has turned into hell.

On the night of January 29, 2023, my husband and I talked via video for the longest time during the war. He was exhausted and kept repeating: “I love you”. And in the morning I was told that he was killed in the Bakhmut district while performing a combat mission. Mykhailo received an injury incompatible with life. I lost consciousness, I did not want to live. The only thing that saved me was that my daughters were with me, and I was carrying our son under my heart. When he was born, I named him Mykhailo, in honor of his father.”

Due to the stress, 8-year-old Zhenia became apathetic and regularly visits a psychologist. Her sister Milena recently told her mother that she wants to enter a military college. The girls are taking the loss of their father very hard and miss him indescribably. Their own hobbies help them to soothe their heartache: Milena’s hobbies are singing and photography, and Zhenia’s are drawing and dancing. Now they, like their father, dream of seeing the sea.

The girls were very happy with our gifts. Now Zhenya and Milena go to school with their Rozumniki tablets and Save Ukraine backpacks, and they can continue to learn and develop even at home. Yevhenia’s mother says that this attention has added joy to her daughters’ lives. This means that our mission was not in vain.

P.S.: May the memory of Mykhailo, a Ukrainian soldier, senior soldier, grenade launcher gunner in the 105th Battalion of the 63rd Brigade, father and husband, be blessed. Very soon the defender will be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.