In Velyka Novossilka, not far from the front line, retired residents decided to stay in the village. They took up residence in the primary school, without water or electricity. Meeting with Irina, their “guardian angel”.
It’s raining cats and dogs. “When the weather is bad, they shoot less. They hide from the rain. We are calmer”, rejoices Irina. This 46-year-old piano teacher lives in Velyka Novossilka, a small town in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, a few kilometers from the front line. It has barely moved since the start of the Russian invasion. The counter-offensive launched in June 2023 by kyiv is progressing only slowly. Ukrainian forces have only recaptured 300 km² in four months.
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In Velyka Novossilka, despite daily strikes, a few residents remained. Around thirty retirees have taken up residence in the basement of the primary school since a year and a half and the start of the Russian invasion.
Irina is their guardian angel. She made herself responsible for this basement, without running water or electricity, except for two hours a day, thanks to a generator. “We live, we sleep, we eat here”she describes. “The residents brought mattresses, pillows from home. We arranged as best we could. We are trying to survive.”
Read, draw… and spend the winter
Volunteers regularly bring food to refugee retirees. Everything is well stored, in small boxes. “I make sure everything is in order, that no one lacks anything”describes Irina, organized, “and that everyone is in a good mood. Despite the war, we must keep our spirits up.”
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On a wooden table, a few old books are arranged. Thrillers by Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. “We read, we draw, we watch films on our phones. It’s a very simple life, but in a basement. We even have an aquarium”, she smiled, pointing to the aquarium in the old biology class. If the fish are still inside, the village children are long gone.
“I sent my daughter and my mother to western Ukraine. And I stayed, because this is my home…”
Irina, resident of Velika Novosilkaat franceinfo
The voice chokes, tears begin to flow. “Besides, I help people.” In this school, Irina was a piano teacher. His instrument is out of tune. She doesn’t play anymore. There are no more children to teach.
“I have always worked with students. I miss their company a lot”she gets excited. “I really hope that one day schoolchildren will come back here, and that next year, for example, the children will feed the fish in the aquarium, not us…” While waiting for happy days, we must already spend the winter in this damp basement. Irina has already chopped wood for the stove.
“A very simple life, we try to survive”: Boris Loumagne’s report to Velyka Novossilka