When Russia invaded Ukraine, 23-year-old Elison Diez was abroad. She returned even though both of her hometowns were destroyed by the Russians. And she wants to stay, even though Ukraine is facing a harsh winter. “I don’t know if Belarus will go to war, if there will be a new attack on Irpin,” she says. “But I know for sure that I will not run away from the war.”
ntv.de: Where were you when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started?
Elison Diez: I was abroad, in Italy. At the end of November 2021 I got on the plane in Kharkiv and thought I would return six months later. But the war changed the plans of all Ukrainians, including mine.
Bullet holes can be seen on her balcony.
(Photo: Private)
Your husband stayed in Kharkiv?
Yes, my husband Serhii and our cat. Stayed in Kharkiv for six months after the invasion. Serhii didn’t want to leave. He volunteered there and said he would not leave the city as long as he could be of use to the people. But when I wanted to return, he forbade me to come to Kharkiv. He worried about me because the city is under fire every day. So we arranged a meeting in Kyiv. Today we have been living in Irpin for a few months, in this apartment.
Irpin is the Kyiv suburb where the Russians committed war crimes.
When we got to Irpin, the town was already liberated. I bought an apartment there in 2019 and wanted to move there, but then I found my love in Kharkiv and fell in love with the city too. I moved to Kharkiv in mid-2019. I had the apartment in Irpin renovated and actually wanted to rent it out.
Is the apartment still there?
My residential complex consists of two buildings. Each building has 12 floors. My apartment is on the 6th floor.
Elison in Kharkiv before the Russian invasion.
(Photo: Private)
How badly was your home hit?
The house in which the apartment is located was on Irpin’s first line of defense. There were street battles here. An enemy missile hit the building right next door, fire broke out. Some of the upper floors are just gone. I was lucky in comparison. But I can no longer sell the apartment like this. When we arrived there were no windows, the frames were damaged, the walls and ceiling in the bedroom had holes like a sieve, there were a lot of splinters in the furniture and doors, there were bullet holes. A few walls were also torn down.
What did you feel and think when you found out about the Irpin bombing?
The apartment consists only of bricks, plaster, wallpaper and wood. It can be restored. But the two cities of Irpin and Kharkiv, which I love with all my heart and have the best memories of, were destroyed with particular cruelty. I worried about my friends and relatives. I wrote to acquaintances, to teachers, to relatives. I didn’t want to lose people. It was important for me to hear that you are alive and safe. When the bombing started, I understood and felt what hatred of the enemy means. And I also understood what helplessness is. I was depressed, I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
Has your home been ransacked?
All the entrance doors to the apartments in our building were broken. But I was lucky: Because the apartment was for sale, there wasn’t much in it apart from the built-in appliances. That’s why the Russians didn’t plunder, they just acted out their hatred and envy. They kicked down doors – we found the dirt from their boots on the room doors. There were also marks on the walls. They destroyed the bed and shot in the kitchen cupboard – things like that. Because they couldn’t find anything to take away, they apparently had to destroy it.
How were the neighbors?
When the invasion began, authorities told people to leave the city. Our neighbors have gone. That saved her. None of them were hurt.
Are there electricity, water, gas, cellphone and internet connections in the city now?
Russia is currently practicing outright terror against the civilian population. Each week they pick a day and launch a massive attack on critical infrastructure. Our government then restores them. And the next week it happens again. Therefore we have already spent several days without light, water, heating and communication. In a “normal” case, we have a schedule for so-called rolling blackouts. In fact, it’s a godsend when all communication works four to six hours a day. But believe me, that doesn’t scare us. We only get more angry with Russia, raise more money for our military and believe in our victory. Because only terrorists and unfortunate people cornered are capable of such acts. They thought they would break us, but they united us even more.
What are you doing now What is your life like at the moment?
Now we live in Irpin in this damaged apartment. I work in Kyiv as a model and assistant to a stylist. But of course there is much less to do than before. And I volunteer because I want to make myself useful. We buy generators, heaters and ammunition and send them to our defenders.
do you have plans What do you want to do next?
First of all, I plan to survive the winter, because it will be very hard. We can’t make plans because we don’t know what’s going to happen today or tomorrow. I never know which house will be hit by a rocket or a frag grenade and where I or my family will be at that time. This uncertainty and the unknown scare me the most.
Elison had the destroyed windows replaced.
(Photo: Private)
I will restore the apartment, but only after our victory. Now it makes no sense. The war is not over yet. I’d rather earn money and spend it on army needs than renovate the apartment that could be destroyed at any moment. All we’ve done now is order and install windows, buy a mattress to sleep on, and a table and chairs to eat in. Everything else can wait.
Are you scared?
In principle, there is no more fear. When I was abroad, I worried about my family and was much more stressed than when I returned home. I’m not afraid for my life. I was only 22 when I went abroad before the war. I’m 23 now, but like everyone else in Ukraine, I’ve aged at least ten years. I don’t know if Belarus will enter the war, if there will be another attack on Irpin. But I know for sure that I will not run away from the war. This is my home, my country. Here I feel calm even in the chaos.
Maryna Bratchyk spoke to Elison Diez