A terrible coincidence: a resident of Brooklyn visited her native Kharkov for the first time in 12 years, but then the war began.

Tatyana Vargo, a mother of three from Brooklyn, on January 17, 2022, flew home to Kharkiv for the first time in 12 years. And on February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine - the war began, reports Voice of America.

Fly home and not die

Parents died when Tatyana was 12 years old. Dad was Hungarian, mom was Russian from Norilsk. After the death of her parents, the girl ended up in a boarding school in Kharkov. In 2009, Tatyana moved from Ukraine to America. At the beginning of this year, the woman decided to show the children her hometown and visit the boarding school.

On February 23, in the evening, they walked around Kharkov in the evening, admired the city, fed the ducks. And the next day, she began to receive messages that the war had begun.

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A week before the start of hostilities, Tatyana's friends told Tatyana that she had to fly back. And she couldn't believe this was happening.

“I couldn’t go anywhere to buy something. I could not leave three children. I knew that they were bombing near me, to leave and leave with such a heart to buy milk and water? Yes, there was nowhere to buy, in fact, ”recalls Tatiana.

The bridge was mined nearby. All nearby shops were closed. In the evening we sat in the dark, trying not to attract attention so that the rocket would not hit the window. They only ate until dark. There was a lot of information that inspires fear: “The girl went and spent three days on the railway with three children. She couldn't get on the train. I could not. I imagined this picture. Like me with three kids. And she sat. And here I sat."

A shell hit their house. The children shouted that they did not hear anything, an elderly man was moaning behind the wall. “When the shell exploded, it was as if everything was cotton wool. You don’t feel the blood, you don’t feel the heart beat, ”this is how Tatyana described her feelings.

The night was hard, for an hour they sat in the corridor with the children. The children began to freeze, the daughter's teeth began to chatter from fear. The children peed in fear.

“Once a very beautiful city. One night, you go out, and there is nothing from the city. Everything is just lying around: frames, glass. The trees on the floor are all knocked down from the bombing."

Long road to America

I had to run. The worst thing, according to Tatyana, was when they were driving in a column. There were bare fields that were constantly shelled. Along the way, there were cars smashed by shells. “I always thought I only had two hands. And that some of the children I can not save.

They traveled by train for 25 hours, it took 3 hours to get to the Dnieper. From Hungary we walked until 4 am. There was no sleep, no normal food. From there we flew to Turkey, where we spent several days.

In one of the cafes in Istanbul, a dialogue began with a Russian-speaking man at the next table:

-You are from Ukraine?

-No, I am from Russia. And you?

-We are from Ukraine.

-Sorry.

-But for what? You didn't do anything to us.

His child was about 6 years old. He said: “I know when the war will end. When Putin is killed!

“We ourselves are running away from Russia. We are going now, not knowing where.

The man put $400 on her desk and said, "You'll need it."

Money doesn't matter if there is no life

Now Tatyana, like many other caring people who are abroad, is collecting humanitarian aid to be sent to Ukraine. The woman took the charger and medicines on a credit card, saying that she would pay off somehow: “Money does not matter now if there is no life.”

The other day my daughter told her: "Move away from the window, they are shooting here." Tatyana reassured me that it was calm here, that they were already in another country.

“When the war is over, I will be the first to go and hold the flag. The child told me that we would go to clean everything there.