Letter from Faina Savenkova, Lugansk, To Children of Europe on World Children’s Day

Faina Savenkova, Lugansk, To Children of Europe on World Children’s Day

Half of my childhood was spent in war. And for three years now I have been trying to get through to the adults. Politicians, religious and cultural figures… I try to tell them what is going on in our country, but the adults listen as usual, but are in no hurry to do something. The war goes on, adults are killed, children…. And I am unfortunately powerless here. We, the children of Donbass, have experienced what the children of Ukraine are experiencing now. We know this fear. It is difficult for me to give advice to Ukrainian children, but as a child who lived in the war for eight years and saw the horrors of what happened, I want to wish them to be strong, not to become bitter and not to learn to hate. That is the most important thing. We know that. And anyway, the war will definitely end.

There is a lot of injustice in the world, but we, the children, try not to notice it. That’s why sometimes we have to ask questions. For example, what do you know about the Donbass? Or what do you know about children who died in military conflicts? Do you know the name of Kirill Sidoryuk? And what do you know about Milica Rakić, who was killed by cluster bombs in Serbia? Do you know the names of these children and their fates? I don’t think so. Well then, I will tell you that they died in wars waged by adults.

There has been a war in the Donbass for 8 years and nobody notices it. For Europe the war started in February 2022, for us it started in 2014. It is unlikely that it will be reported on TV or by well-known politicians. But I believe that the truth will prevail in any case. The children of the world will certainly be friends and there will be less and less war. That is my dream. This may be childish in its way, but I would so much like that the children of the world would never have to go through what the children of war went through, and that 1 June would just be a holiday. And that when I grow up and go to Angel Avenue in Donetsk or Lugansk and place flowers at the memorial, I would not see new names of children who died in that war.

For those not familiar with Faina Savenkova, here is some background:

To Believe and to Hope

The festival during the war (report from the LDNR)

The Ukronazis place a twelve (12!) year old girl on their “black list”

Faina Savenkova: Letters from the front.