Anna Slabinska

Hanna Slabinska has always been an active person. Even now, at 81, she cannot imagine life without something to keep her soul busy — sewing, knitting, or her beloved painting by numbers.

She was born and raised in Selydove, a town in Donetsk region, in a large family of four children. She had three brothers, so she always felt protected. “Like behind a stone wall,” she recalls with a warm smile. Together, they helped their parents with household chores, worked in the garden, and tended to the orchard. There was always a lot to do, but it was a time when hands were always busy, and the heart was at peace.

In her youth, Hanna studied to be a seamstress in Mariupol, and it was there that she met her future husband. However, life turned out differently, and she had to work outside of her field. In the collective farm, she worked as an assistant accountant in field brigades.

In recent years, she lived in her hometown of Selydove until the war forced her to choose: stay at home or stay alive. Shelling became more frequent, and one day she realized it was time to leave. She packed the essentials and went to her daughter in Odesa. But, not wanting to burden her daughter, she agreed to relocate. This is how they found a shelter in the Carpathian region.

“Here, I feel at home,” says Ms. Hanna. However, recently, fate prepared another challenge for her — due to a mishap, she fell and suffered a fracture in her hip. The surgery was complicated, but even while in the hospital bed, Ms. Hanna didn’t sit idle: she was knitting a scarf for her granddaughter.

But the greatest joy she finds in painting. “When I paint, all worries fade away. It’s like a protective reaction of the body — you get caught up in the process, and your soul calms down,” shares the woman. Ms. Hanna is eager to show her paintings. Her favorite one is “Shevchenko’s Courtyard.” However, now a new dream lives in her heart — to paint a picture of peaceful life in Ukraine.

“I have nowhere to return to… It’s very painful. But I am ready to stay here, as long as the war ends,” sighs the woman.

But as long as there are paints, a canvas, and faith in a better future, Ms. Hanna continues to create. Every brushstroke is a prayer for peace, and each painting tells a story of how love for life conquers pain and loss.