The father believes that there are Nazis in Ukraine, the sister wants to reach out against the Russians
Diana Balakarieva was born in Russia, but has lived in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine since she was a child. A year and a half ago, she moved with her family to Slovakia. However, her parents and siblings remained in Ukraine.
In the interview, she talks about how the war divided their family, what Russian propaganda is laughing at, why she was not at all surprised by the willingness of Slovaks to help Ukrainian refugees, and why she is not afraid to admit that she has Russian nationality.
How did you get to Slovakia?
In 2019, my husband and I decided that we wanted to go to Europe. At that time, however, we had no idea exactly where we could go. All we knew was that it wouldn’t be easy. at about that time, some of our acquaintances moved to Slovakia, and when they came to visit, they seemed very satisfied and happy. My husband immediately got excited about the idea that we could also go to Slovakia.
What was the problem?
At that time, we were engaged in business – we had a small family business that focused on the sale and installation of plastic windows. So it wasn’t like we had nothing to lose. However, we did not want to do it in the same style as many other families, where my father went abroad to see the robot and the rest of the family stayed at home in Ukraine. We agreed that when someone had to leave, the whole family would go – and buy one-way tickets.
My husband, who managed to find a job in a plant in Bratislava, was the first to go to Slovakia. The first year was still here alone and in November 2020 I and my younger daughter came to see him. The two older daughters stayed in Ukraine, where their grandmother took care of them. But in August 2021, they also came to us.
So it was half a year before Russia attacked Ukraine and the first to be hit was the border Kharkiv. How did you experience it?
On February 24 at 5:00 a.m., my mother called me and said that Kharkiv was being bombed by Russia. It was a huge shock, something terrible. In addition, it was a personal tragedy for me – my two sisters stayed right in Kharkiv.