Help for Ukrainian refugee family from Bucha

There are four of us in my family, my dad Valerii, my mom Natasha, my younger sister Eva who is 15 and myself, Nikita. Wefirst learned what war is in 2014, when the self-proclamation of the Donetsk People's Republic took place under the leadership of the Russian Federation. The outbreak of hostilities forced us to move to our summer cabin in the forest near the small town of Volnovakha. At the time, we believed we would only be there for a couple of weeks until everything calmed down, but the war continued, and we wound up living there for a year.

During this time, my father’s business collapsed due to the war, and we were forced to live on our savings.

Because I was in the 11th grade, it was necessary to finish school. My parents sold our car to pay for a yearlong Czech language course, so that I could learn Czech and attend the state university in Prague.

While I was away, my mom, dad and sister waited for the end of hostilities in Donetsk so that they could return and continue their old life, but this moment never came. Eventually, our parents decided to sell everything we had in Donetsk and move to a suburb near Kyiv, called Bucha where they believed it would be safe. They had just managed to start a new life; my dad and mom had new jobs, we bought our own place to live, and my sister started studies in a new school but things took a turn for worse.

In February of this year, as you all know, the Russian Federation began an aggressive war against Ukraine, and our new house, like the entire city of Bucha, was captured by the occupying troops a week later. My parents and sister escaped the city on the 7th day of the war, a day before its fall.

My father took my mother and sister to the Polish border, and remained in Ukraine, where he is now engaged in transporting people on a volunteer basis.

When my mother and sister got to Poland, they found shelter at a church (for what we are immensely grateful) and it was decided to move them to Prague to be with me. Thanks to my friend, I found the contact of a family that wanted to help by hosting a refugee family. We are immensely grateful to David and his daughter Isabella for their kind gesture and help during such a difficult time.

Unfortunately, our financial situation is not very good. As a result of the wars and being forced to move from one place to the next, our savings have been depleted, and there is practically no money left. Our apartment was looted. We only hope the building will survive.

Today, we are looking for a school for my sister so that she can continue to study. My mother is looking for a job but does not speak English and Czech, which makes it very difficult to find one. To support myself and family and to save money to eventually restore the house, I’ve taken an academic leave to help my mom and sister integrate into the Czech society.

We need your help.At the moment, I am the only one who can earn money for the needs of the whole family, but at the same time I also need to save money for university which I hope to return to when the situation resolves itself. We would appreciate anything you give to help sustain us while we wait to see when we can move back to our country.