Tatiana Trenina and Galina Netteltoft.
The Trenina family had become accustomed to the war. It began in their part of Ukraine in May 2014.
– For the first month, we were in a state of shock. We did not know what to do or what to expect. Fighter jets often flew over the city, but we realized that they were just passing through and heading to other cities. There were a lot of people on the run, but there were also a lot of people fleeing to our city from places which had been under occupation, says Tatiana.
In 2020, Tatiana's older son Eugeniy had two choices: to be drafted or to become a professional soldier. He didn't want to go either, but to get paid more and stay close to home, he chose the latter.
– A lot of guys don't even get a chance to fight before they're killed, and Eugeniy saw a lot of horrors, says Tatiana.
She continued to work, and her younger son, Oleksiy, continued to go to school. Until 2022, they had never been down to the local bomb shelter.
– When my son hung up the phone, I talked to the neighbors to find out what had happened, and they asked me if I hadn't heard the bombs falling in the night. But I hadn't, I had been sleeping so well, Tatiana said.
That same day, Eugeniy asked his mother and younger brother to pack their bags and leave, but Tatiana didn't want to go anywhere because she assumed that the situation would be the same as before.
– Anyway, I went and bought extra food, just to be on the safe side.
In the evening there were large explosions on the outskirts of Rubizhne, and on March 7 the explosions started coming closer to the family's neighborhood. On March 8, electricity and water were cut off.
– Many of the neighbors lived in the basement and only occasionally came upstairs, we went down to see them from time to time, but mostly stayed in our apartment.
Then Tatiana learned that evacuation buses were leaving the city. But the buses couldn't go because of the heavy bombardment.
– When we got home, I saw that a rocket had landed in our yard and hadn't exploded yet, and I realized that there were seconds left before it would. I ran downstairs and checked my body to see if I was hurt. I hadn't been afraid before, but now death felt close. Over the next few days, we understood that if we stayed, we'd die. When we looked outside, everything was burning, so one day we just ran.
The escape route saw them zig zagging until they found a bus that went to a town that wasn't occupied. From there they took a train to Lviv in western Ukraine.
– Volunteers, not only from Ukraine but also from other countries, provided free food and water at every stop, so we weren't hungry during the journey, but it took more than 24 hours, Tatiana explains.
All the refugees were heading for Poland, which was overcrowded at the time. Rumors began to circulate about other countries they could reach, and Oleksiy thought that Sweden sounded like a good place. In Stockholm, the Migration Board placed Tatiana and Oleksiy in Skellefteå, where the number of Ukrainian refugees has now reached over 250.
– Eugeniy can't come here. Unless you have three children or a document proving that you can't fight, you can't leave the country. We talk about it daily, to see if it's feasible if he can come here," said Tatiana.
A friend of Tatiana's sent her videos of the ruins of her home.
- It hurt my heart so much when I saw it for the first time, but now I don't care so much about the house anymore. I'm just glad we got out alive.
How does it feel to talk about it?
– It's not fun, but it's reality. This is my story and it goes on. This is my life.
About a third of the houses in the town are still standing. People are still living there, including Tatiana's parents. They're not able to call one another because of the lack of communication, but Tatiana's friend sometimes travels from a nearby town to talk to them and to report back to Tatiana in Sweden.
– I don't want to go back. Russia says they liberated our country, but they liberated me from my house, my job, my life. I don't want to be liberated.
Today, Tatiana works in the kitchen of Anderstorp's high school, Oleksiy attends middle school, and Eugeniy in Ukraine is rehabilitating from an injury. When it heals, he will go back to war.