Mykola was in Chernihiv when the city was under siege, he continued working in the medical center, despite the attempts of the occupiers to kill the residents of this city with cold and hunger. This story is about humanity, responsibility and dedication to one’s work.
Good afternoon, tell us about your life before the full-scale invasion
I worked as a technical director in a medical center in the city of Chernihiv, where I still work. Our center specializes in purifying the blood of a person whose kidneys are not working normally — hemodialysis. Most of our patients require lifelong treatment, and the hemodialysis procedure itself takes several hours. My duties include supporting the work of the center, that is, I’m responsible for the supply of consumables, the use of electricity, water, etc.
How did your life and work responsibilities change with the onset of full-scale war?
When hostilities began, our center continued working. Some patients and staff were evacuated in the first 2-3 days after February 24, but those who remained had to be treated. We had about 70 patients and staff left after February 24. Our medical center has two floors, but then we decided to move most of the beds to the basement and some of them to the first floor. Later, problems with water and electricity supply began in the city, so first the patients, and later the medical staff, temporarily moved to the basement of the center. Staff members remained living in the center, they started living there 2-3 days after February 24. Someone just left for work in the morning and decided not to return home at night, someone still left again — to pick up warm clothes, hygiene items, etc. Some patients stayed in their homes and came to the center for treatment, while some had to be picked up from their homes themselves and then taken back, as people were afraid to leave their homes under fire. About 60-80 people lived in the basement of the center. These people had to be warmed somehow and fed with something.
What were the first days of the war like?
From the first day of the full-scale war, Russian soldiers were near Chernigov. On the first day, I remember, the boys and I were sitting on the outskirts of the city and monitoring the situation, when we heard the sound of tracked machinery. The road is clearly visible, it was noticeable that the tanks are traveling at high speed, that is, most likely, they are not ours. I decided to follow them. When I got closer, I realized that they definitely weren’t ours. They also drove on a GPS navigator, it is clear that they are certainly not local. I followed them for 15 minutes. They drove through the whole city and reached the village of Kiinka, which is near Chernihiv. I returned to the city, found our soldiers, told them how many tanks there were and where they were going. Then, when I returned to work, I heard how our “Grad” was working in that direction. I think they “caught up” somewhere there.
There were three missile hits near our center. All the windows, of course, were blown out, the frames were bent. One day, just as the patients were going out to smoke, and four minutes later, as soon as they went down to the basement, the missile hit. Well, as it’s said, God helped.
How did you maintainedthe operation of the medical center while the city was under siege?
The medical center in Chernihiv where Mykola works, March 2022
As I’ve already said, at that time many people lived in the basement of the center. They hardly ever went outside. And all these people had to eat something. And although providing food to patients wasn`t one of my direct duties before the war, in those conditions, I couldn`t do anything else. The city was surrounded and under constant enemy fire, people were simply afraid to leave the basement, not to mention that most of the shops were closed. So, once every two or three days, I went to the city for groceries. I usually took three female employees with me and drove each of them to different stores that still had food left. One was in line at the grocery store, the second one in line for water, juices, etc., and the third one in line for bread. At that time, there was almost no connection in the city, it was almost impossible to make a call, but we still managed to send messages. Thus, we agreed that they will write to me what they managed to buy and what they didn`t, and then I went to remote areas of the city, where there were fewer people and where it was easier to buy something. Then I picked them up and we drove back to the center. We also took all the food left at home and brought it to work. That’s how we lived for 24 days.
It was easier with water: as long as there was light, there was water. When the power outages began, the heating also disappeared. To keep people warm, we brought blankets from home: both patients and employees. The floor was covered with mats so as not to sit on damp.
There is also one interesting story. I have a co-worker, and when hostilities began, I lifted her to and from work, because there were no minibuses, and she lived outside the city. When the Russians approached the village where she lived, I could no longer lift her home, so I drove her to the village of Novoselivka, where her parents lived. But that village was also under constant shelling by the Russians: she lived with her parents in the basement for 7 days. I called her regularly, asked how she was feeling. When I realized that she could no longer cope morally under constant shelling, he persuaded her to evacuate. Thanks to the help of volunteers, I was able to drive to the village of Novoselivka and take her out, but her parents refused to leave at that time. Two days later, the Russians entered the village and began to kill civilians, and we were simply afraid that they wouldn’t be kidnapped or killed. Then the question was no longer whether her parents wanted to evacuate, the question was how to evacuate them. We decided to take them away. At the checkpoint, our boys didn`t want to let us go further, they said: “there is a 99% chance that you will be killed there”, but the girl insisted on getting into the village after all: she showed her registration card, named the street and simply begged them to allow to go. In the end, they said: “God bless you”, and let us go. We managed to evacuate her parents and goddaughter. I don’t know how we got out of there so safely, because the village was constantly shelled. Is it luck or fate? By the way, the next day, at four in the morning, both the yard of her parents and the yard of the godmother were destroyed. We took them out of that world, let’s say.
How was the evacuation to the city of Cherkasy?
With the beginning of the missile attacks on the energy infrastructure, there were problems with electricity supply. There could be no light for two days, and then it was for two days. Patients had to be treated even at night — when it was electricity. I called the workers (of the energy sector – ed.), I had to monitor the situation, find out when they`ll be able to supply electricity and water again after the hits. After one of the attacks, I was told that there would be no electricity for a very long time, then a decision was made to evacuate the maximum number of patients and medical personnel from the city. It was the middle of March, the city was under complete siege, it was very dangerous to leave it: the Russians were shelling the exit routes. We waited 5 days so that it would be safer to leave the city. Then the regional administration provided us with six buses to evacuate patients and staff of our center, as well as to evacuate patients from the local and regional hospitals, a total of 117 people.
Buses started arriving at around nine o’clock. In the first three, we placed our patients with medical staff, in the other three — patients of the first and regional hospitals. Then we were gathered at the point where all the evacuation routes from the city were located, and we went to Kyiv in one column. From Chernihiv to Kyiv is a little less than 150 kilometers, which is about two to two and a half hours if you go by car. We drove for nine hours. Then, I remember, it was a very bright moonlit night, and I kept thinking that the Russians could clearly see us. Closer to Kyiv, our convoy was stopped by patrolmen at one of the checkpoints, told to be careful further: drones drop mines on the roads. We kept on. We arrived at the Kyiv railway station at night. We were supposed to have a train to Cherkasy from there, but instead there was only a train to Lviv, so it became clear that we have to decide. While the staff checked the condition of the patients and provided assistance, I began to think how we would get to Cherkasy after all. At first I talked with local volunteers, but when they heard that about a hundred people needed to be accommodated at a time, despite the fact that some of these people were in a difficult condition, they said that to solve something, you need to wait until the morning. While I was talking to the volunteers, I inadvertently saw an advertisement for a train that runs to Boryspil from Kyiv. I thought about taking a risk and asked to take me to the head of the railway station. I was shown around, introduced, I explained the situation to him, and when he asked what he could do to help us, I smiled and asked for a train. He laughed back at me and said he would do his best. To his credit, he did everything he could. Forty minutes later, he approached me and said that they could allocate one car for 75 people and take us to Cherkasy. That’s how everyone was accommodated: those who could stand stood, the weaker ones sat, but the main thing was that everyone was accommodated. We drove another 5 hours to Cherkasy, and there in the city the heads of the Cherkasy center were immediately waiting for us to pick up patients.
Please tell us what life was like in Cherkasy after your arrival in the city
The problem of housing and providing food for everyone in Cherkasy has arisen again. Most of our patients were placed in stationary departments of Cherkasy hospitals. And if the city authorities were still able to provide beds in such emergency conditions, there were difficulties in feeding everyone. Then again, once every two or three days, I went to buy groceries in supermarkets and took them in the kitchen to the hospitals where our patients were. Fortunately, there was enough food in Cherkasy.
What was life like in Cherkasy?
Yes, life is life, just like anywhere. Personally, I was too quiet after Chernihiv. I was doing volunteer work at that time.
When did you return to Chernihiv?
May 9, 2022. At the end of March, the Armed Forces of Ukraine defeated the enemy from the outskirts of the city and from the territory of Chernihiv Oblast. From that time on, I went to Chernihiv twice a week and took humanitarian aid to patients and employees who couldn`t evacuate. Doctors and patients began to return little by little immediately after the de-occupation and demining of the city. By the way, an interesting point: most of those patients who went abroad had a kidney transplant, and they no longer needed the dialysis procedure. At least something good.
How did Chernihiv change when you returned to the city?
The city has changed a lot. All neighborhoods, suburban villages were destroyed by 50-60 percent or more. I drove into the neighborhood, there were 12 houses, all of them were destroyed. Four of these twelve buildings are definitely subject to demolition, the other eight — well, I didn’t know then. The city was shattered, roadside poles were knocked down, trolley wires were lying on the road. But after one and a half to two months, it began to be rebuilt, city transport ran, people gradually returned, shops opened. The normal pace of life was restored in the city. We changed the windows and doors in our center, and it has already fully resumed its work.
Would you say that these events have somehow changed your attitude towards life?
I don’t know… Except that one thing has changed — I started to hate Russians. Also, apparently, the people with whom I worked and still work have become even closer. The war united us even more. Everyone understood each other with half a word. Once my colleague and I had to go to buy food, and she, as I noticed, was afraid to go under fire. I told her: “Stay here, I’ll go myself.” And she answered: “No, I’m with you.” She was afraid, but she did it. I don’t know what motivated her to do it. Apparently, she understood what it was needed. And in general, everything is the same.
Thank you for sharing your story. Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to heroes.
Translator: Bohdana-Nikolietta Terekhina
