58-year-old Nina barely escaped from her flooded house in native Fedorivka.

After the news about the disaster at the Kakhovka HPP, the woman and her husband were going to sleep in the attic, confident that the water wouldn’t rise so high. “It will be up to the waist, no problem,” said the husband to his wife. However, within a few hours, the couple realized that the situation was much more serious. At first, the water slowly came up from the garden and the street, and then it entered the yard of the Pirozhok family. The cellar was the first to fail – the building collapsed within minutes. Then the water rose very quickly in the house where the woman was rescuing the property. Suddenly, furniture began to fall and blocked the way out of the flooded room. Mrs. Nina was trapped, standing up to her waist in water. After a while, she managed to open the door and swim out of the house. Remembering this, the woman burst into tears, it was so dreadful.

The family’s house ended up underwater along with the roof. It survived only due to the concrete foundation and partially the frame. Damaged property, things mixed with clay and garbage are still lying in Mrs. Nina’s yard, reminding her of her losses. “All my life I was afraid of being homeless at this age. It’s been 57 years, there’s no health,” the woman cries and can’t say a word anymore.

Mrs. Nina was looking forward to her 60 years to finally retire. For almost all her life, the woman worked as a cleaner. And now, because of the tragedy, she has lost hope for a peaceful old age. For a woman, the Kakhovka catastrophe became the most difficult event of the war. Even the occupation of the village didn’t have such terrible consequences for her family. At that time, the shelling avoided Fedorivka. Only Russians had come to the woman and offered her to get a Russian passport, move to Russia, they say, you will retire there sooner. However, Mrs. Nina refused: “I live in Ukraine and I will stay here.”

Currently, the couple lives in the apartment of relatives who have moved from Fedorivka.

Thanks to a joint project with our partner World Vision International, we provided the family with a lot of humanitarian aid: food, 18 liters of drinking water and tablets for water purification, hygiene products, a power bank, a sleeping bag, blankets, etc. Although this support won’t return their home, it will give the couple the strength to overcome the most difficult period. And also will help to gain faith in the continuation of life after their losses.