Als Druschkiwka fast unbewohnbar wurde, versuchte die 83-jährige Walentyna, sich zu verhungern

83-year-old Valentyna walks alone in a courtyard surrounded by high-rises. In recent months, whenever she hears the sound of an engine, she hurries outside as fast as her failing legs allow. This happens rarely — only once every few weeks. To her, that sound means the last of her neighbors are leaving Druzhkivka.

>“I am not leaving. My wallet is empty. There is some money in my bank account, but I cannot withdraw it. There used to be those machines that gave out cash [Editor’s note: ATMs], but they do not work anymore. Maybe they work further away, but I would not know. I am 83 years old. I thought to myself that I had lived into such a nightmare that it was time to die. So I decided, like our Lord, not to eat. The Bible says He did so. I only lasted for a week! I was so weak after that. On the last night that I did not eat, it was as if someone came to me, and a voice said it was not my time yet, that I still had to live. So now I am cooking on the gas stove, and I just finished some porridge. When I heard you arrive, I came out to see who they were taking away,” the Druzhkivka resident says with a smile.

Since January 2026, the retiree has seen three families evacuate. She cried twice because of the feeling that she was being left all alone. However, things felt a bit better after she befriended a man from a neighboring building. He has no plans to leave anywhere. He is staying behind to guard his apartment.

>“Yesterday some guys evacuated Tania from my part of the bulding, and she is already begging to come back! They brought her to Lozova, paid 10,800 hryvnias, and put her in a room with four strangers. How can you live with people you do not know? I could not. I am used to being the hostess of my own home, where no one bothers me. I go outside to feed the cats and the dogs. What would they do without me? We both have a roof over our heads, so everything is fine, except the war never ends,” the retiree says.

***

The woman is worried because she truly wants to see her neighbors off. She still refuses to evacuate herself, especially when she sees volunteers carrying out the belongings of those leaving in checkered bags. The retiree says that she has no such bags, so the volunteers probably will not take her.

Suddenly, a loud explosion is heard — another drone strikes the neighboring high-rise. Valentyna is startled and asks timidly:

>“What if I pack my stuff in a box? Will the boys be angry with me?”

**Read complete article and see more photos here:** [**https://frontliner.ua/en/druzhkivka-is-being-torn-apart-by-drones-evacuation-has-become-impossible/**](https://frontliner.ua/en/druzhkivka-is-being-torn-apart-by-drones-evacuation-has-become-impossible/) 

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This makes my heart hurt