The story of little Artem's escape from the war from Lisichansk/Collage of Channel 24
The war forever changed the childhood memories of Artyom from Lisichansk. He and his mother escaped from the occupation, but the offshoots of the war have already sprouted into the children's heart and dreams. Instead of memories of the house, the boy told about the Russian military who had captured him. Instead of the warm hugs of his grandmother, he recalls how he said goodbye to her.
- 1Bad uncles took the house – Artyom about leaving the occupied Lisichansk : watch the video
- 2The curly-haired Cossack met us in the hall of the shelter for migrants
- 3″Bye”, I miss her: Artyom remembers goodbye with grandma
- 4″Bad uncles took the house, now there is war”
- 5″I'm not afraid. I'm brave”
- 6″I want, to end the war”: children's-non-children's dreams
Children of war – can anything sound scarier in the 21st century? A generation is growing in Ukraine, born to the sound of explosions, machine guns, shelling. A generation that will forever remember how they had to run away from the war, leave home and relatives.
We conclude the last issue of the SVOI project with the story of little Artemchik from Lisichansk, who dreams not of a new toy, but of “the bad guys go away and the war ends”.
OWN. Stories of those who left to return.
Bad uncles took the house – Artyom about leaving the occupied Lisichansk: watch the video
The curly-haired Cossack met us in the hall of the shelter for migrants
The conversation with Artyom was almost accidental. We arrived at a shelter for internally displaced persons in Lvov. They recorded everyone who agreed to talk about the burning pain that the war caused and already leaving the shelter, they saw a charismatic Cossack in the hall. His eyes looked with interest at all our cameras, tripods, microphones. Spontaneously, without agreeing on anything with the operator, we started talking to the child. The boy introduced himself as Artem.
The boy himself wanted to talk to us/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk , Channel 24
The Cossack's name is Artem, he is from Lisichansk/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, channel 24
Artyom looked at our film crew with interest/Photo Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24
His Ukrainian sounded natural and at ease. It was later that we learned from my mother that Artemchik from Lisichansk and all his entourage spoke Russian. The child not only understood us, but also answered all our questions logically, although sometimes in a childish way.
The only thing, despite his mother's hints that he was from Lisichansk, the guy tirelessly repeated that he was from Ukraine. And we do not argue – Lisichansk is Ukraine.
Artyom's mother did not want to live in the occupation, she took her son away almost immediately after the start of a full-scale invasion. It was dangerous to stay in the city – too loud, “liberation” rockets flew in too close.
“Bye”, I miss her: Artyom remembers saying goodbye to his grandmother
Now the curly-haired Cossack is safe with his mother. She only remembers that she misses her grandmother, who promised to come, but so far remains in Lisichansk. He says that he misses her very much, while the child’s hands squeeze the toy harder, and I squint my eyes as if during a hug.
Artyom: Grandmother wanted to stay there. Us: Mom must have refused her? Artem: Yeah. I said “Bye”, I miss her.
Artem is waiting to meet his grandmother, who remained in Lisichansk/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24 /h3>
His eyes are filled with childish curiosity and do not betray everything he sees. At the same time, memories keep popping up and Artyom talks about the “bad uncles” – the Russian military who took his house.
These words make our heart ache. We ask if Artyom knows what war is. He replies – “war is where my home is”. And it becomes even more unbearable for us. The child says such burning words.
Artem, despite his age, understands what it is war/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24
For all of us now war is where our home is. And from this it becomes unbearably painful and scary. For the future, for our relatives, for everything we had, for the blue eyes that looked at us with complete acceptance of reality.
After all, we cannot boast of this – there is no acceptance. One cannot accept the fact that in the 21st century the war is taking the lives of Ukrainians, the flower of the nation is dying, millions of people are leaving their homes and relatives just to live and remain free.
“I'm not afraid. I'm brave”
In relative safety, in Lvov, air raid warnings still remind you of the war, forcing you to go to cover. But Artyom proudly says that he is not afraid, but politely goes to cover when there is danger.
We: Are you not afraid of the sound of a siren? Air Raid.Artyom: No, I'm not afraid. We: do you go to the vault? Artyom: Yeah. I'm going down to the basement. There was an alarm.
During the conversation, Artem was distracted by the games, thinking about his own. We didn't interfere/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24
We gave Artem a compliment: they said he was very brave. And although at first he did not agree, then he admitted – brave!
We: But you are a strong boy. You are brave. Artem: Not brave. We: Not brave? Look how well you are doing. Artem: Brave, brave.
Little Artemchik during a conversation with us/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24
“I want the war to end”: children's-non-children's dreams
We we do not yet know how the devastating war has affected all of us. We do not know what kind of injuries our children received. What secrets will be buried far under the skin and never want to remember. In the meantime, they will be brave and dream unchildish dreams.
Us: What do you dream about? Artem: I dream of ice cream. I wish with a banana. And with a cherry. And I want no more war. Us: Do you want no more war? Artem: Yeah.
Artem hopes that the war will end soon/Photo by Valentina Polishchuk, Channel 24
Of course, we fulfilled the first part of Artyom's dream – we found banana ice cream and brought it the next day, but the second part of the dream – to end the war – was undertaken by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We said so to the little Cossack. And we know for sure that they will fulfill it. Then Artem will return home to Lisichansk, hug his grandmother and play with friends.
Not only Artem will return home, but millions of other children as well. Ukrainians who had to leave home, wherever they are now, know that they are waiting for them at home. They know if they are in the West of Ukraine, they are at home, because Artem did correctly answer “I'm from Ukraine” to our question “what region are you from”.
We called the cycle of stories OURS – because Ukrainians are “their own” now in every corner of the Earth. Because we are a nation that stands for truth and freedom. A nation that won the war and became a model of dignity and resistance. We no longer need to be equal to “European standards of life.” Now everyone will be equal to Ukrainian.
