I have lived with my partner for 8 years. We have three children together: a 3-year old girl, a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. We come from a small village near a city in central Ukraine. For the past three years, I was on maternity leave. My partner begun abusing alcohol and inflicting physical violence on me. In the beginning of February, he beat me severely. The Head of our community took my children and me to his house and called the shelter for survivors of domestic violence. Social workers took care of us. We spent the beginning of full-scale invasion in the shelter.

I’m not going to return to my partner. He was calling me, promising to undergo addiction treatment, but there’s a certain point after which you cannot trust a person anymore. I have a designated room in a social dormitory and I will go to live there with my children. 

We weren’t officially married with my partner. Currently, I am receiving 1500 UAH from the state [monthly], but it’s not even enough for food. I see no point in trying to receive child support from my former partner – he owes a huge sum of money to his child from a previous marriage and has no intention to pay it off.

My youngest daughter had just turned three. Now I can arrange a place at a preschool for her and go to work. I worked as a postwoman before and may now be able to return to that job. I will either do that or look for a different job. I am asking for help with food for my children and me. I will also be grateful for any clothes for the kids.