We met 42-year-old Ruslan when the man came to our Dnipro hub for help. He was desperate and wanted to share his soul-wrenching story with someone.
Ruslan lived in Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, with his mother. But he never called her "mom" in his life, like his brother and sister. They couldn't even say this word because of a difficult childhood. A mother could leave her children alone in a cold house without food for three days. Then they ate dry bread and water, which they found somewhere around the house. And when the mother returned, she met the children with the words: "Well, you haven't died yet?".
Then they grew up. Ruslan's younger brother went to prison. The sister became a prostitute. And Ruslan himself stayed with his mother. With the beginning of the war, despite the childhood trauma, the son grew closer to his mother. In old age, the elderly woman realized that she was not needed by anyone except her children.
Or rather, except for Ruslan. Because the sister and brother didn't even want to hear about their mother.
"Only I remained, who more or less maintained a relationship with her, although I never called her mother." - at these words, Ruslan's voice broke off and the man began to cry.
Through tears, he told how the shelling began, how half of the house was destroyed by a shell, and how he and his sick mother, who had suffered a stroke, decided to flee quickly. They were leaving under shelling and the mother became sick in the bus. The volunteers dropped the woman off and insisted that an ambulance take her to the hospital.
At that moment, sobbing on his mother's chest, Ruslan begged her: "Mom, just live!" He realized that she is the only native person in the whole world. Forgetting about the pain experienced, about the insults - Ruslan called his mother "mom" for the first time in his life and did not notice it himself.
So they said goodbye. The woman was taken away by an ambulance. And 15 minutes later, Ruslan got a call from the hospital and was informed that his mother was no longer there.
The man couldn't forgive himself for leaving his mother. He was filled with different, opposite feelings.
After several hours of talking with our volunteer and praying for forgiveness, Ruslan calmed down. He stayed in our hub for a few more days. Thus, because of the loss that war brings, people rethink their relationships with the most important people in life - their relatives.
