Valentina Boryak

Valentina Boryak evacuated from the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region. Currently, the city is undergoing an evacuation of its residents due to the advance of the Russian army.

Ms. Valentina is 71 years old and originally from Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region. She has difficulty moving due to leg problems and issues with her blood pressure. In Pokrovsk, she couldn’t go down to the basement during shelling, so she decided to leave in order not to be a burden on her relatives. She has been in Ivano-Frankivsk for about a month.

The woman had COVID-19, and since then, her leg problems have worsened. She had been struggling with them since her youth.

“Treat every person with respect and understanding, because you never know what they are going through right now, what problems they may have.”

When she was 33, the woman fell at work. She didn’t receive timely help, waited a long time for the ambulance, and then the attending doctor misdiagnosed her, failing to detect the fracture immediately, which led to further complications.

She walks with a cane. To get to the second floor of the shelter, she uses a lift. We specifically installed it for people who cannot move independently.

Ms. Valentina has two degrees – in pharmacy and economics. She has worked in a pharmacy, at an oil depot, and at a meteorological station, where, by the way, she sustained her injury.

Little Valya’s childhood was spent with her grandmother and grandfather in the village of Stepaniivka in the Kostiantynivka district. She recalls how she used to herd geese, guard the chickens, and in return, her grandmother would bring her ice cream from the city.

“Vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone, it was very delicious. They don’t have anything like that now,” recalls the woman.ка.

Her grandmother and grandfather also prepared the girl for school. Ms. Valentina says she knew the entire “ABC book” by heart.

Ms. Valentina’s credo is: “Treat every person with respect and understanding, because you never know what they are going through, what problems they may have.”

In her free time, the woman reads books about the history of Ukraine. In the evenings, she plays dominoes and checkers with other residents. She says the staff at the shelter are “golden,” and everything is good, but the nostalgia for her homeland never fades.

Ms. Valentina’s husband stayed in Pokrovsk. He couldn’t leave his farm behind: the chickens, the nutria, the dog. She is in constant contact with him. He says they are shelled every day. He misses his wife but is glad she is safe.