Oleksandr Lazarenko: «My dream is for all families to be united again and overcome the pain of the war»
Oleksandr Lazarenko, a native of Donbas, had to celebrate his 70th birthday in Zaporizhzhia, away from home – the war took him away.
Oleksandr worked at the Mariinsky boarding school for orphans, teaching crafts lessons until a real war came to Ukraine in 2014. His house, where he was born and lived, in Krasnohorivka was destroyed, and for eight years, until the full-scale war, Oleksandr lived in an old church’s premises. A full-scale war caught Oleksandr in the same church. Escaping from rockets, Oleksandr lived in a bomb shelter for a month.
In April, Oleksandr was already in Zaporizhzhia, in a safer place. Here, forced migrants like himself were given shelter, provided with food and clothing, and normal living conditions. Oleksandr received humanitarian aid from the Saving Lives project and is very grateful for such support and care.
Oleksandr’s family left in search of a safe life back in 2014. And today, his most cherished wish is for peace to come, for the family to be together again, for him to be able to see his children and grandchildren.