TestimonialsIn France, Olga is recovering from Covid-19 and returning to work. In kyiv, Sasha gets angry with her mother and separates from Viktor. She moves into her friend Y.’s residence, in a small apartment, alone with her dog. They agreed to share their daily life for the seventh week.
Olga and Sasha are two Ukrainian sisters. The first is 34 years old and is a wine merchant in Paris, where she has lived for seven years. The second, aged 32, lives in kyiv. At the beginning of
During the war, she moved in with her mother, her partner, Viktor, her dog and her friend Y., in a building with an underground car park. To the rhythm of sirens and explosions, everyone goes back and forth between the apartment and the basement. The two sisters have agreed since the beginning of the conflict to keep their logbook to M. In France, Olga is recovering from Covid-19 and returning to work. In kyiv, Sasha gets angry with her mother and separates from Viktor. She moves into her friend Y.’s residence, in a small apartment, alone with her dog.
Olga and Sasha’s diary, over the weeks
On February 24, 2022, the lives of Olga, 34, and Sasha, 32, turned into war. The eldest lives this tragedy from France, the youngest is stranded in kyiv, Ukraine, taking refuge in an underground car park. They agreed to tell their daily life.
Tuesday, April 5
Olga: I have to go back to work tomorrow and I don’t feel capable of it at all. Too much fatigue because of my Covid. I think a lot about Boutcha. I don’t want to imagine what is happening in Mariupol. I went shopping and for walks.
Sasha: Boutcha, Irpin, Borodianka – the words hurt all over my body.
I don’t know how to count the days anymore. Only tragedies, atrocities and missiles count. Thousands of identical photos of people killed. It’s not about stress anymore, it’s like you’re going through a panic attack that lasts for weeks.
Russians [Sasha a fait le choix de ne pas mettre de majuscule à russe et russie] moved away from Kyiv [M respecte le choix orthographique d’Olga et de Sasha]. We’re going to leave Y.’s apartment and go home. I’m happy to have my apartment back, but the idea of living on the top floor of the building (we’re on the 9th) isn’t cool in times of war. We don’t have shelter there, either. Mom is going home too. We need to spend time apart. I hope she decides to go to France with Olga. I tried to force her, but she doesn’t want to leave without me. Yet it can neither protect me nor improve my situation here! I don’t want to leave Kyiv or leave Viktor, even if the relationship is tough. People come back, there are traffic jams at the entrance to the city.
Wednesday 6 April
Olga: I went to work. My mother has moved away, she is no longer with my sister. They got into a bit of a fight. My mother is in my grandmother’s apartment. I’m worried, because I’ve read lots of articles that say you shouldn’t hide on the top floor or on the ground floor. My mother is on the ground floor and my sister will be on the last one… But, well, apparently the PPO – the air defense – is working very well.
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