Unexpected Sense of Wonder: Who is Returning the Roofs and Walls of Donetsk Region

Dough in Hands, Peace in the Heart

Oksana has lived on this site since birth. For the first fourteen years, she lived in the house on the right, closer to the road, and when her grandfather built a second one, she moved there. The woman has spent her entire life in Druzhkivka, and when she says "home", she doesn’t mean two buildings on the edge of the street, but the entire city.

As a child, Oksana dreamed of becoming a baker. Over time, her young hobby began to bring in income—the woman got a job at a bakery. Later, with the birth of her children, she was left to show her skills to the little ones; all her free time was taken up by raising her son and daughter. The childhood dream was hidden behind diapers and homework.

You know, to bake for children is the best thing. I liked working, but when a little one watches the buns rising in the oven, it's the best. They don't have a favorite. They say that everything that mom bakes is the tastiest. And I don't need anything more.

A Russian shell hit opposite Oksana's house on the afternoon of April 19. The shock wave blew away the slate fence, roof, and windows.

"I remember I was in the kitchen pouring milk," Oksana remembers. "The sound was loud. It was like someone hit me in the ears. Glass flew at me, and I covered my younger son with myself. My daughter was under a blanket, and my husband was in another room. No one was seriously injured."

The family found themselves literally without a roof for the first time in their lives. Since the start of the full-scale war, the residential areas of Druzhkivka have been constantly under Russian shelling. This was the first time an airstrike had taken place in the Oksana area.

"Well, the first day I sat at home and had no idea what to do," the woman said. "I have a sick little child who needs constant care, which distracted my anxious thoughts a little. When it all started in 2022, the farm almost didn't feed us. The cows started giving less milk. There was enough for the geese and chickens, but somehow there was enough for food. But I couldn't afford to do such repairs. We were literally without a roof for two days. We were thinking about how to live on. And then one day, people come out of nowhere and say, "We'll do repairs for you. We'll put a roof on, windows". 

Volunteers from the "East SOS" organization came to Oksana's aid. This is one of the largest charity foundations in Ukraine, engaged in reconstruction, evacuation, and humanitarian and psychological assistance.

"East SOS" has about six construction teams. Two are in the Donetsk region, the others in the Kharkiv region. The craftsmen don’t have enough hands to do it all at once, so they rebuild houses in order of the queue. When there is destruction after Russian shelling, local authorities inform the volunteers. Coordinators come, assess the scale of the work, and put residents in line. Usually, from the moment of the hit to the reconstruction, the locals have to wait no more than a few weeks. Often, this causes them unexpected feelings of wonder and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the neighborhood. “God himself sends us such people,” they say.

All the guys are builders in the past. With such efforts, a team was formed in January 2024, which has already restored 106 objects in the Donetsk direction.

Due to the fact that the organization is quite well-known, it is possible to attract not only grant funds, but also funding from European countries. Materials are almost always enough.

While the builders are erecting the roof, Oksana shows the farm:

"We are scared, but we hope that the war will not come directly to us. Because I need constant supervision over my child's health, household, chickens, geese, and bulls. After the hit, the cows began to give less milk; the animals are stressed. But we are always ready. If necessary, I will take the children and leave here to save their lives. But, of course, I don't want to leave home. Look, the lilac has already bloomed there."

Not a Brigade, a Team!

Valentyna and Asid met at a bakery in Druzhkivka. They fell in love, got married, and have been living together for twenty years. The taciturn Azerbaijani settled in the east of Ukraine. And he calls this place his home.

The couple races to tell the story of the day of the shelling:

— Yes, it hit when we were not at home. The neighbor…
— Yes, my husband and I were somewhere out of town, I don’t remember.
— Well, we arrived, it was at the end of April. We go to the plot, and the neighbor…
— It was last year, 26 April, to be exact.
— We go to the plot, and the neighbor tells us that our trees are gone…
— My God, and we already planted apricot and cherry trees a couple of years ago.
— Well, come on, are you going to tell it or should I? How many times will you interrupt me?
— But whoever interrupts, I’ll tell you everything as it was!
— Oh…

Asid waves his hand away, lights a cigarette, and goes to the weed-covered hole. Valentyna takes my hand and leads the tour.

The couple lives in a large house built just after World War II. They share a long white structure with four neighbors. The gate is overgrown with green vines, and bells grow on both sides. In the backyard is a pyramid of broken bricks and a rusty barn gate. In the opposite corner of the plot, a tree shimmers green—the only one left after last year's shelling. The entire roof of the yard was swept away by fragments of a Russian shell. The windows flew out, the walls cracked, and moved slightly away from the foundation.

Valentyna went to talk to the volunteers, and I immediately approached Asid so that he could freely tell me everything.

"We planted a garden a few years ago. The trees were young, but already big, beautiful—cherries, apricots, apple trees, we wanted to plant strawberries for the season. But there has been a hole in the yard for a year, what to fill it with? We need to buy land, get a tractor, and throw it in. But we don't have either health or money. But look how they made the house! They did it well, conscientiously. When it hit, the guys had already restored everything in a month and a half. They installed even better windows than they were. Now the wind doesn't blow into the room in winter, it's warm. And there is a roof. I love the stars, but I'd rather go outside and look than through the ceiling," said Asid.

Volunteers are welcome here. Right from the gate, the couple greets them with smiles and treats them to compote and tea.

— Well, here's the driver. He can spend the whole day drinking coffee, but he brought the guys food and helped them finish the roof. Everyone is smiling, everyone is helping each other. You look at them, and the eyes are filled with joy at such friendship. A team, not a brigade.

We created this material as a member of the "Recovery Window" Network. Learn about the rebuilding of the affected regions of Ukraine on recovery.win platform