Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, looks at her family cat, Kisiau, next to her makeshift bedroom inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
After surviving World War Two, Maria Nikolaevna lived a busy and fulfilling life, raising two children, working as an engineer in the Soviet aerospace industry and cultivating a beautiful garden at the family home in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
As she grew old and her husband, Vasilii Emelianovich, died, her horizons narrowed to the confines of her second-floor apartment, the view from the window of children playing on the swings and visits from her daughter who lived nearby.
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, talks with the family cat, Kisiau, inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
When war returned this year and bombs struck her building after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Maria's world shrank further - to the confines of a basement across the city.
For the past four months, 92-year-old Maria has lived underground with her daughter, son-in-law and the family cat. She gets her only glimpse of natural light by sitting in a doorway at the foot of stairs that run up to the street outside.
Kharkiv - Ukraine's second-largest city, in the northeast close to the Russian border - resisted a Russian assault that reached its outskirts in the first two months of the invasion, but has endured almost daily shelling in the past month after a period of relative calm.
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, walks with the help of her daughter Natalya, 58, in front of protective sandbags, in the basement they have lived in since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
With both their homes now uninhabitable, the family lives in limbo in the cellar of a friend's apartment block.
CONFUSED
Maria suffers from mobility problems, progressive memory loss and confusion that has worsened since the attack on her home.
Natalya, 58, the daughter of former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, holds the family cat Kisiau as they go downstairs, past graffiti that reads "Lord, help us", to the basement where she lives. Natalya, her husband and her mother have lived in the basement since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 24, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
"She has forgotten what the city looks like, she is confused and does not know where to go, what to do, how to lie down, how to sleep, how to hide," her daughter Natalya, 58, told Reuters.
"She does not hear well so we have to write things down. It was very difficult - still is difficult - but we have found a way."
Natalya's home was in one of the most heavily bombarded areas of Kharkiv and she believed her mother would be safer staying in her own residential suburb eight miles away. She arranged for neighbours to take food to Maria and check on her.
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, gestures next to her makeshift bedroom inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
One night though, a neighbour called to say there had been an explosion next to Maria's apartment and power had been cut. She managed to get through to her mother who was in tears as she tried to dress herself in her pitch black flat.
Natalya's husband Fedor found a taxi driver willing to cross the besieged city to retrieve Maria and the few belongings they could grab.
"The taxi driver picked her up, carried her downstairs and very quickly rushed through the city to bring her to safety," said Natalya, who did not want to give her surname. "She can no longer live without us because this has affected her health."
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, reads a magazine in front of a makeshift bedroom inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
MEDALS
War is not new to Maria. As a girl, her family was forced to house a German officer during the occupation of Ukraine in World War Two. The man she would marry fought in that war.
Maria and her husband hailed from the same village in the Poltava region but met after the war in nearby Kharkiv where they attended night school, shared a desk and fell in love.
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, walks with the help of her daughter Natalya, 58, towards the only glimpse of natural light, which comes from a doorway at the foot of some stairs that run up to the street outside. She has lived inside this basement with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Maria then worked as an engineer in Kharkiv's state-owned FED factory that made aerospace parts.
"Because she is a person of the Soviet era and she worked like a Soviet person, she received the maximum amount of money, as an engineer," her daughter said.
The couple married, had a son and a daughter, and bought an apartment with a garden and a motorbike. "They left the hard times behind," Natalya recalled.
Maria Nikolaevna, 92, speaks to her granddaughter Masha, 31, who lives in New York, on a phone held by Maria's daughter Natalya, 58, inside a basement, where Maria has lived with Natalya and Natalya's husband since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Maria suffers from mobility problems, progressive memory loss and confusion that has worsened since the attack on her home. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Today, as her memory fades, Maria occupies her time reading dog-eared magazines and reordering her husband's medals, among the few things Fedor rescued as she fled her home.
They serve as a talisman: a physical reminder of her family's place in history. They include the Order of the Patriotic War for his involvement in Soviet operations against the Germans and a medal for fighting against Japan at the end of the war.
In the basement, Maria sleeps on a mattress laid on wooden pallets in a makeshift "bedroom" delineated by three cheap fleece blankets.
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, sits inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Maria suffers from mobility problems, progressive memory loss and confusion that has worsened since the attack on her home. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Bundled in a fleece and thick-collared jacket against the subterranean chill, she lives for WhatsApp calls from her granddaughter Masha, 31, who lives in New York.
In one call, Maria asked her bemused granddaughter if there was also shooting where she lives.
Laughing, Natalya interjected: "No, mom, it's good there, it's warm and quiet. She (Masha) wants to bring us all there."
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, arranges the medals awarded to her late husband Vasilii Emelianovich inside a basement, where she had lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 26, 2022. Maria suffers from mobility problems, progressive memory loss and confusion that has worsened since the attack on her home. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Maria beamed and kissed the mobile phone's screen.
As regards the future, the family has no answers, only questions, said 62-year-old Fedor.
"When will this war end? And on whom does it depend? On politicians? On us? On the military? Because it is unacceptable in our time, it is savagery. That my mother-in-law and other old people who are 95 or 97 years old should end their lives in such conditions. The sooner it ends, the better."
Fedor, 62, holds a photo of his wife Natalya, 52, as a baby with her parents Maria Nikolaevna, and her late father Vasilii Emelianovich, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
(Reporting by Nacho Doce; Writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, sits on a chair facing the only glimpse of natural light, coming from a doorway at the foot of some stairs that run up to the street outside. She has lived inside this basement with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, looks at a clock inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 26, 2022. Maria suffers from mobility problems, progressive memory loss and confusion that has worsened since the attack on her home. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, eats as her daughter Natalya, 58, watches, inside a basement where they have lived since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. With both their homes now uninhabitable, the family lives in limbo in the cellar of a friend's apartment block. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, talks with Kisiau, the family cat, held up by her daughter Natalya, 52, inside the basement where they have lived since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. With both their homes now uninhabitable, the family lives in limbo in the cellar of a friend's apartment block. REUTERS/Nacho Doce A letter of gratitude regarding the Soviet victory in the war with Japan, written to Vasilii Emelianovich, the late husband of former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, is displayed inside a basement, where Maria Nikolaevna has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, holds the hand of her daughter Natalya, 58, in the basement they have lived in since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. With both their homes now uninhabitable, the family lives in limbo in the cellar of a friend's apartment block. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Natalya, 58, shows a photo to her husband Fedor, 62, in the basement she has lived in with her mother and with husband since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 22, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce A man walks past a destroyed building next to Maria Nikolaevna’s house after a military strike. Maria has lived with her daughter and son-in-law inside a basement since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Maria suffers from mobility problems, progressive memory loss and confusion that has worsened since the attack on her home. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Former engineer Maria Nikolaevna, 92, reads a question to her daughter Natalya, 58, inside a basement, where she has lived with her daughter and son-in-law since the beginning of the war, in northern Saltivka, one of the most damaged residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine July 26, 2022. With both their homes now uninhabitable, the family lives in limbo in the cellar of a friend's apartment block. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
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