In Vinnytsia, birth in the war
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what we said
In an article published in M World Magazine In May 2022, I told about a very personal meeting between the Dushchenko family, who live in Vinnitsa, southwest of Kiev, and my family in Chambery. In 1993, the son, Ivan, who was then 10 years old, came to France for the first time, as part of a Chernobyl children’s admission program. His parents were working at the plant when reactor No. 4 exploded on the night of April 25-26, 1986. Ivan spent several summers with his family. His younger sister, Anna, was staying with a young couple in Pas-de-Calais.
In 1994, my parents brought us to Ukraine. There we met Ivan’s parents, Halina and Vasily, in Vinnytsia, where they had been moved after the Chernobyl disaster. *****nkos came to France the following year. Thirty-six years later, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Halina takes refuge in Chambery, with Marina, Ivan’s wife, and their two children, Andrey (10) and Vera (4). Deputy director of the Vinnytsia Energy Company, responsible for the distribution of electricity, Ivan was transferred to his position. Her sister, Anna, a primary school principal, refused to leave. Their father chose to stay with them.
what happened after that
At the end of June 2022, Ivan’s mother decided to return to Ukraine. She spoke neither French nor English, but suffered from an inability to understand herself. In Ukraine, Ivan’s grandmother is hospitalized while he is away. She herself had health problems. Marina and the children stayed another month. Evan was granted permission to come and see them for a few days. At the end of July, Maria decided to go home: she had just found out that she was pregnant.
The hardest thing was hearing the sirens announcing the enemy attack and the electricity going away for hours without knowing when it would return. » Marina
This pregnancy could not have come at a worse time. But Ivan was high: he always wanted to have three children. So he set himself a task: that nothing negative should affect his wife during the next nine months. “the hardest, Marina saysHearing sirens announcing an enemy attack and electricity disappearing for hours without knowing when it would return. » A professor of pharmacy at the university, she taught until mid-January. On February 16, little Milanka was born in the Vinnytsia hospital. “All I want now is for my children to be able to grow up in a peaceful country,” Marina says.
In her posts, Ivan’s sister Anna tries to always stay positive. But being tired is a feeling. In September, classes resumed at his school. Power outages are becoming more frequent. At the beginning of December, Anna said: “My school and my apartment are on two different power lines. When I leave the house in the morning, there’s no electricity. At school, we have it for an hour. Then two hours during the day. When I come home in the evening, there’s really no more. So I do my laundry at night when you get back.” . » So that the pupils could continue their studies during bombing alerts, the teachers equipped the cellars, thanks to donations collected abroad, within the framework of Operation “Bracelets and Peace”, of which Anna was one of the initiators. When the electricity goes out, the students continue to study by the light of their lamps.
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