Our skies should not echo with sound of bombs, says 69-year-old Ukrainian

By Jeyhun Aliyev

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) - The skies should not echo with the sound of bombs, said a 69-year-old Ukrainian woman, who has taken shelter at a subway station in Kyiv to escape bombings by Russian forces.

"My parents fought in the Patriotic War," said Nina Zir, referring to the Eastern Front of World War II.

"My father fought for the piece over my head. He lost his leg near Budapest, he came back from the war without a leg so that we could live peacefully," she said, fighting back her tears.

The subway station, which is 250 feet underground, is being used as a bomb shelter by some 800 people.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

According to UN figures, at least 227 civilians in Ukraine have been killed and 525 injured since the start of the war. However, Ukrainian authorities put the death toll at more than 2,000.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 1 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries.

- 'Help us'

Zir continued that she has nieces and nephews living in Russia, but they were "brainwashed about Ukraine."

"We ask the whole world to help, save us, to stop this war. The skies should not echo (with the sound of bombs) for our children, for our grandchildren," she said.

Zir said many people are going hungry as they cannot step out of their houses.

"My neighbor asked for bread just now, when I left the shelter.

"She was born in 1934, she also went through the war. The Nazis did not destroy everything like that, they had some kind of soul.

"Children were not killed. And now, these Russians, hired militants, are killing our children, our grandchildren, who are fighting today to protect us," she said.

Stating that she has spent a week in the subway station, Zir thanked Kyiv's mayor for providing them with three meals a day.

"My husband stays in the house. He is bedridden. He was born in 1940.

"I come here to spend the night, but he can't get here, he has to be carried.

"He says he is a war veteran and he will die at home. I take food for him. This is how we live," she said.

- 'It's scary outside'

Olga, who only gave her first name, is taking shelter at the subway station with her 4-year-old daughter.

"It has been six days here. It's safe. I’m here with my daughter. I sometimes go to wash, to get some food, and when I go out, I see very scary things. I heard shots, I heard explosion… It was very scary," she said.

Noting that she is proud of Ukraine's "brave" forces, Olga said she wishes everyone returns home "healthy and alive."

"We need help, we need humanitarian aid, we need military assistance because we have been attacked, peaceful people are being killed," she said.

Svetlana, a mother of three girls, said she has been living in the subway station for seven days with her children and dog.

"I am the only physician, I provide (medical) assistance, because there are sick children," she said.

She recalled that they heard explosions near the metro station recently.

"There were wounded, I helped them. It's very scary, very scary. I want to go home. It hurts to see our children sitting here.

"I want to tell (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that we don't need to be freed, we are already free people. We want peace and we want home," she said.