My daily blog: War memories

I guess now every February will be something of a milestone for us, when our lives were divided into "before" and "after". These photos show the last day of peace, 23 February 2022. It was an amazing setting in my house back then. Before New Year's Eve, someone had given me a puppy - little Michelle. She was very tiny and smelled like her mum's milk. From that moment on, all life in my house revolved around this little orphan. My dogs were very anxious about the arrival of the puppy and almost every one of them wanted to be the furry little girl's guardian. It was very touching. Michelle quickly settled into her new home and felt safe and secure.

The big question is whether I was expecting a war. No, I did not believe in it. We knew that the russians hate us and they have always sought to seize our territory (and by and large a positional war has been going on since 2014), but we did not appreciate the scale of their hatred for us and their disregard for all norms of international law. But then, on 23 February 2022, I could not have imagined what lay ahead of us.

Of course I felt some anxiety, but I thought that the international community would be able to resist the bloodthirsty plans of the russians. We overestimated them too. All those UN and NATO turned out to be complete political impotents. But two years ago, I didn't know that yet. I was taking care of my new puppy and dreaming of spring.

And there was one thing that would later save us. But I didn't know it yet. A few days before, my brother-in-law called me and told me to order some dog food. Just in case. And sent money to buy the food. On the 23rd of February, a month's supply of dog food arrived. I loaded it into our bead, Fairy the cat checked the quantity on the delivery note and I relaxed. I realise now how incredibly, fantastically lucky we are. Just one day... less than twenty-four hours will pass and not a single car will be able to pass in our direction. The shops will be empty and closed. And there will be complete uncertainty ahead.