A woman has shared the shocking reality of her home in Ukraine after returning one year after the war started.
Anna Malygon, 19, from Kharkiv, left home 18 months ago to study abroad – but had no idea that she would be unable to return.
After setting eyes on it earlier this month on a trip back, she was stunned to find it still standing.
“It was heartbreaking,” Anna told NeedToKnow.online.
“My apartment was dirty, cold and really smelly. There was mould everywhere and food in the fridge which had expired one year ago.
“Nuts and cereals were filled with worms. The water was rusty. There was unfinished coffee and a pastry that my mum didn’t finish because the war started.”
“All the good memories came back to my mind immediately.
“It was harrowing to see all my old personal stuff that I used when I lived there.
“I left Ukraine to go study abroad and I never thought I wouldn’t be able to come back.
“Thank God my house was still standing and not bombed, like many others.”
Anna shared a clip of her home on TikTok, showing her mum’s bed unmade after she “woke up because of bombs”, mouldy plates stacked in the sink, and unwashed laundry next to the washing machine.
The post went viral, being viewed 12 million times and racking up 1.3 million likes.
A second clip shows an iPhone left on charge for a year.
Charlie B commented: “Wow, hits hard to see all of that abandoned because of a war, specially your own home.”
Another user said: “Terrifying how life was abandoned one day and disrupted. I’m sorry.”
User Lara added: “Eerie feeling in those pictures, so sorry.”
“It’s just now hit that it has been a year,” said Loreta Flores.
Another viewer commented: “It’s really been a year since this started wow.”
“This is hard to process,” another person said.
