At first, it seemed that all this would pass in a couple of days. But we were very wrong.

The real horror began. Food disappeared, shops closed, electricity and water disappeared, we slept in the basement and prayed. And all around there were thunder and explosions, the city was burning as if in hell. It was very scary. Not until it was during another air raid, when the bomb flew into our yard and stunned me with an explosion, did I decide that I had to fight somehow. You have to live and help your city, your people.

A former women's colony is located near us. There, in the bomb shelter, were families with children who were hiding from bombings. I started to visit them, to treat them. There were about 70 children there, and they needed care because it was damp, cold, and the water was dripping. Children were coughing and feeling sick.

And I said: «I have this and that» - according to the list. I took what was available. And this is often only paracetamol, ibuprofen and ‘noshpa’. This was our treatment, but what else could we do? Sometimes, a siren wails, and I run and cross myself. I hid behind a tree while the rocket flew in the sky, and I ran again. It was very scary. But work helped to distract.

At that moment, my strength simply left me, my nerves gave way. And then I thought: who will take care of the other children? In the colony and the cathedral, even in the polyclinic, where they also turned for help. I was the only doctor at that time for more than 70 children. Just go and leave them? I could not. I had no right. That's how we stayed.

We survived this terrible month and a half together. Everyone became friends. But the main thing is that we have remained unscathed and healthy. And also - we bought bicycles for the whole family. No one ever knew that a bicycle would turn out to be the most convenient means of transport for a doctor during the war.