16-year-old Jelizaveta from Kharkiv fled to Lithuania with her family: my destroyed bomb was the last straw | Life
Running from death
Elizaveta, together with her mother, brother, grandparents and great-grandfather, lived near the city of Kharkiv. The girl attended the tenth grade, she does not attend the local school, she helped her grandparents take care of the garden and garden, sell the grown fruits in the market.
When the war started, the family lived under Russian occupation for almost a month and a half.
“We hid at home and thought we would wait it out. Unfortunately, those rockets that did not reach Kharkiv fell on us. The occupiers suppressed the whole county and allowed almost nothing and. We listened to news clips on the radio on the phone,” the girl recalls with tears.
All this time there was no electricity or running water in the family home. The snow that had fallen outside was loaded into buckets, melted and thus water was produced. He turned on the gasoline-powered generator several times a day to charge his phone and boil water.
Ukrainians could go out into the street only with white armbands tied on their hands, passing by Russian soldiers on the street, they had to walk slowly and raise their hands. The mother was afraid to let Elizaveta out of the house, she used to tell her daughter to walk around with a scarf wrapped around her face, because at that time the “Kadyrovs” were raging in the area.
“Our neighbors came to Lithuania during the second week of the war. They managed to contact us, urged us to come, said that there is help here. But the Russian soldiers did not let anyone into Kharkiv, so the only way to escape was through Russia. We were afraid to take risks. The bomb that fell right next to the house destroyed my last drop, it was the last drop, my mother decided to run,” said Jelizaveta.
At the beginning of April, a single woman with two teenage children set off on a four-day journey through Russia towards Lithuania by car. It was the first trip abroad for Elizaveta and she still trembles when she remembers it.
“We left all our belongings in Ukraine, because we knew that they would rather take anything at the Russian posts. We only hid the phones and SIM cards in the car. We had little gas left and the roads to leave were closed one by one. “When we saw a car with the inscription ‘Children’, we joined the convoy and slowly moved to the Russian link,” says the Ukrainian woman.
We left all our belongings in Ukraine because we knew that they would rather take anything at the Russian posts.
The girl’s mother drove alone without stopping, only half an hour later she fell asleep on the road.
“In Russia, we overtook convoys of military vehicles. Many passenger cars were “decorated” with Georgian stripes and the letter Z. When they saw Ukrainian numbers, they beeped angrily at us, made gestures, raised emergency situations. That’s how we got into an accident. At that time, we heard a rumor that the border was closing and we were afraid that we would not be able to escape from Russia.
An unknown man, who came to drag our acquaintances with a trawl, took pity and gave money to repair the car so that we could reach the border faster, – the 16-year-old remembered with horror. – We stood by the wall around the clock, they searched our things. They kept taking my mother out for questioning. We, the children, were interrogated for a long time – is this your mother, what is her name, they said that you cannot go to the Baltic countries, because they are unfriendly countries.”
New life in Lithuania
“I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of relief and security upon crossing the Latvian border. Such a clear difference from Russia – everything is orderly, clean, calm. But we did not stop and continued to Vilnius. Here we were met by the same Ukrainian neighbors. The Lithuanian and international family sheltered us in their house for a few days.
After four hours of driving, my mother was sick and had to walk constantly, her whole body ached. Since the refugee center did not find us another suitable home, we have to live like this with this wonderful family until now,” says Jelizaveta.
I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of relief and security upon crossing the Latvian border.
On the fourth day after her arrival, the 16-year-old started attending Vilnius “Žaros” high school with her brother. My mother got a job as a psychologist at that school. After arriving in Lithuania, the girl finally managed to live with her Ukrainian friends, who scattered all over Europe – her best friend settled in Latvia, others in Germany, Poland and Finland, someone stayed on the Ukrainian border with Poland.
The new life in which she was born did not allow Elizaveta to get bored.
“I was considering how to get my money for expenses – it’s inconvenient to ask my mother. My classmate and I heard about “Dēkuis” stops where you can pick up things – we left. There I met an employee of an employment agency who offered to help me find a job. “McDonald’s” restaurant, says Jelizaveta.
Jurgita Kuprytė, head of social employment agency SOPA, says that when the war started, the team decided without hesitation that they wanted to help Ukrainians detained since the war and offer their services – help in finding jobs.
“Together with our partners, we register job-seeking Ukrainians at the DĖKui stop, help them find their way into the Lithuanian labor market, cooperate with employers who offer job vacancies, and mediate. We also have to deal with less related work, but important issues for them, such as registration in polyclinics, we advise on support, we help with a lot of necessary documents”, reveals J. Kuprytė.
Since the girl had already learned basic communication phrases in Lithuanian school, her colleagues even supported her in Lithuanian.
“At the beginning of the summer, many young people joined the team together – Lithuanians and Ukrainians – so we all became very good friends. We quickly learned each other’s languages - after all, there are many similar words between them. Within a few weeks, I drove in, I go to work with joy”, says Jelizaveta, who started working in the hall.
She collected trays, washed the floors and toilets, and carried the garbage. Later he moved to work in the kitchen.
“There are so many recipes and package options, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make it, because the pace is high. But I learned it in a week and now I mostly work in the kitchen”, the Ukrainian is happy.
Plan to return home
Since September of this year, Yelizaveta and her brother have been continuing their education at the Ukrainian International School in Vilnius. This is her 11th and last school year. When the school year begins, the girl will continue to work in a fast food restaurant, but only on weekends and during holidays.
With her first salary, Jelizaveta bought a gift for her mother – a mobile phone, because the old one was damaged on the trip to Lithuania. When asked how the rest of the money is planned to be spent, the girl got upset again.
“We didn’t plan on getting out of the way for a long time. I know that after finishing school, I will return to Kharkiv to study. I put all the money I earned aside, because I will need it very much in my homeland – the village was destroyed, the houses were bombed, looted, everything will have to be rebuilt”, says the Ukrainian woman now.
Now I put all the money I earned aside, because I will need it very much in my homeland.
Yelizaveta, who practiced horse riding in Ukraine before the war, would like to study veterinary medicine and work with animals in the future.
“There is also a McDonald’s restaurant in Kharkiv, I hope it is not destroyed and, having already had experience, I managed to get a job there,” the girl smiles.
Yelizaveta, with tears of joy, that the Ukrainian army has retaken the approach to Kharkiv, succeeded with the rest of the family, and all are alive. Although the girl’s heart is rushing towards, she managed to fall in love with our country.
“I will miss Lithuania very much, it is so good to us. A piece of my heart will always remain in the streets of Vilnius”, says 16-year-old Jelizaveta.