Praying for Ukraine’s Victory: the Story of Mariia Mykytivna, Whose Home Was Restored by the East SOS Charity Foundation
Mariia Mykytivna, a 72-year-old resident of Barvinkove, Kharkiv region, has been living alone since her husband passed away shortly before the full-scale invasion.
Throughout her life, Mariia worked in the catering sector. She loved working with people and was responsible for managing the distribution of goods in a warehouse. Today, she cherishes every corner of her home and yard – the trees, flowers, and garden beds. Caring for the land helps her cope with anxiety and find joy in simple things, especially when flowers bloom and the garden yields a new harvest.
Mariia Mykytivna began building her house together with her husband back in 1976. The couple spent seven years constructing it with their own hands. For her, this home is a living memory of the best years of her life – years filled with work, love, and family.
On February 24, 2022, Mariia celebrated her birthday with pain and tears. Despite fear and uncertainty, she made a firm decision:
“I will not leave my home. Whatever happens, I will live through it here.”
Since then, Mariia has been going to church every day, praying for Ukraine’s victory.
“I believed and dreamed that none of the enemy would enter our town, our native land. Thank God, Barvinkove was not subjected to temporary occupation by the russian army,” she says.
However, the enemy continues to relentlessly shell the town with missiles and drones. At around 3:00 a.m. on July 15, 2025, the russian army fired two cluster munitions at Mariia Mykytivna’s house, while another shell exploded in the yard. At that moment, the woman was inside her home.
“The yard was covered with broken glass and fragments of slate. For three days, I cleaned up the consequences of the shelling on my own. To be honest, I don’t even remember how I survived it,” Mariia Mykytivna recalls.
Later, a representative of the local council advised her to seek assistance from the East SOS Charity Foundation. The Foundation’s reconstruction team promptly responded to the request and helped restore the damaged home by replacing broken windows and installing a new door, as the old one had been severely damaged by shrapnel and could no longer close.
Mariia Mykytivna’s greatest wish is to live in a free and peaceful Ukraine.
“We simply did not appreciate what we had before. Only now do you truly realize how happy we once were,” she says.
If you also need assistance with restoring housing damaged by hostilities in the Izium district, Barvinkove community, Lozova district, Blyzniuky community (Kharkiv region), or Oleksandrivka community (Donetsk region), please contact our Call Center Monday to Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. at 0 800 332 614.
Since August 2023, the East SOS team has restored 890 houses in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions as part of the project “Comprehensive Humanitarian Response to the Needs of Conflict-Affected Ukrainians and Third-Country Nationals in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Moldova.” The project is implemented with the support of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
