My name is Yulia Lyashenko. I am from Ukraine. I have three wonderful children, my eldest son Arthur is 11 years old (on April 4 he will be 12 years old), middle son Mikhail - 6 years and 9 months, daughter Margarita, 4 years old (on March 21, she just turned 4 years old). My husband's name is Roman Lyashenko. And we are a really happy family.. were happy.. until 24th of February 2022.

At that moment, I am 45 years old. Just turned on the 23th of February 2022. And on the 24th of February I woke up to the thunder of tanks, the sound of which came from the window of my house... Tanks fired at peaceful houses, where children and parents were sleeping quietly...

In that morning I did not believe my ears, what I heard... I did not believe my eyes, what I saw - the speech of the President of Ukraine, he announced that the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the beginning of war... I felt fear, panic and despair… The question was in my head: “War?! For what?! Why?! And how should we be now, how should children live?!”

All dreams were shattered...

All plans for the future destroyed...

My beloved city Kharkiv defeated...

My husband stayed in Kharkiv. He could not leave his parents (they are 71 years old). Now he helps to save people in Kharkiv, helps them survive… Roman believes peace will come one day... soon... and forever...

Now I am in a foreign country. With my 3 children and my mother we crossed the border to Poland. Here I met really very open and generous people. They are Irek and Beata. They met me with my family in Kraków, brought us to their home, fed us and warmed us up. After that, they helped us to find temporary housing in Poland, where I now live. I also met another married couple: Ela and Karlo, they try to help us get what we need. I was very touched by such attention to our family... I will always remember this and will send them my love and light!

Now we are staying in a summer cottage. There are woods around, a lake and many other cottages. The place is beautiful and quiet...Our family was allowed to live here until the end of April. Today I must to think about where I will live tomorrow and how I will live tomorrow. I must… I need to save the lives of my children!

The war continues in Kharkiv…The war continues in Ukraine…

What do I feel? Pain!

What do I think about? Future of my children!

What do I want? Peace!

How do I achieve this? I will learn a new language - the language of a country that gave me asylum! I will learn new skills to support my three children! I will pass on to my children love and faith in God, because I know and believe that God sees us, hears us and will save our Ukraine!

Once back in 2006, I came across the book by Stephen Covey: “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. I was shocked by many aspects of this book. One of these statements for instance (I quote): “...Between irritation and reaction, a person always has the right to choose…”

I choose life! And I wish all people on this planet to live in joy, dream and love and be loved...

English below:

My name is Yulia Lyashenko. I am from Ukraine. I have three wonderful children: the eldest son Arthur is 11 years old (on April 4 he will be 12 years old); middle son Mikhail - 6 years and 9 months; daughter Margarita, 4 years old (on March 21, she just turned 4 years old). I have a husband. His name is Roman Lyashenko . And we are really a very happy family.. was happy.. until 24-th of February 2022.

At that moment, I am 45 years old.. just turned on the 23-th of February 2022… And on the nest morning… in the 24-th of February I woke up from the thunder of tanks, the sound of which came from the window of my house ... Tanks fired at peaceful houses, where children and their parents were sleeping quietly ...

In that morning I did not believe my ears, what I heard ... I did not believe my eyes, what I saw - the speech of the President of Ukraine, he announced that the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the beginning of the war ... I believed my inner feeling ... It was fear, panic and despair… The question was in my head: “War?! For what?! Why?! And how should we be now, how should children live?!”

All dreams were shattered...

All plans for the future were destroyed ...

My beloved city Kharkiv is defeated, destroyed ..

My husband stayed in Kharkiv. He could not leave his parents (they are 71 years old). Now he helps to save people in Kharkiv, helps to survive people… Roman believes that peace will come today... now... and forever...

Now I am in the foreign country. I with my 3 children and my mother crossed the border with Ukraine. We are in Poland. Here I met really very open and generous people. They are  Irek and Beata. They met me with my family in Krakiw, brought us to their home, fed us and warmed us. After that, they helped us to find temporary housing in Poland, where I now live. Also i met another married couple: Ela and Karlo, They were visits our family ... They interested what we  needs, our desires ... I was very touched by such attention to myself and my family ... These people have a really great and kind family! I will always remember this and will send them my rays of love and light!

Now we live in the house for relax in the summer. There are forest, lake and many other houses. The place is beautiful and quiet...Our family was allowed to live here until the end of April. Today I must to think about where I will live tomorrow and how I will live tomorrow.  I must… i need to save the lives of my children!

The war is continues in Kharkiv…The war is continues in Ukraine…

What do I feel? Pain!

What do I think? Thoughts on the future of children!

What do I want? Peace!

How do I shell to achieve this? I shell learn a new language for me from the country that gave me asylum! I will learn new professions and skills to educate my three children! I will pass on to my children love and faith  in God, because I know and believe that God sees us, hears us and will save our Ukraine!

Once back in 2006, I met the book Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” ... Then I was shocked by many aspects in this book ... One of these statements was the following (I quote): “.. between irritation and reaction, a person always has the right to choose…”

I choose the life! And I wish all people on this planet to live in joy, dream and love and be loved...