Nearly 30 pairs of children’s shoes line the shoe rack of the Lebzak home in the village of Karierne.
Each of the family’s nine children has three pairs – “one for sports, one for music, and one for church,” says their mother, Svitlana. She will soon add three more to the rack, as she is currently expecting her tenth child.
Karierne is Svitlana’s hometown. She has fond memories of exploring its forests, streams, and fields.
“It was really beautiful growing up here,” she recalls. “I spent so much time with my brothers and sisters by the water, under the willow trees.”
After living in a city further west in Ukraine, the Lebzaks moved back in the hope that it might be safer for their children. They could never have predicted that this village would end up in the direct line of fire between Ukrainian and Russian positions in 2022.
The family fled from here to Germany for a year after the village began being bombarded with cluster munitions. When they returned in 2023, many nearby villages were still occupied by Russian forces. Today, Karierne has fallen back under Russian control.
Drones have flown overhead nearly every day for two years. When the house begins to shake with the impact of the shelling, Svitlana gathers her children in the basement.
“When we are afraid, we start to sing. It helps calm us down. When the kids see that I am calm, they become calm.”
Danger from Above and Below
While air alerts remain a regular reality for the family, Svitlana’s biggest worry for her children is not missiles coming down from the sky – it is the remains of explosives lingering beneath their feet all around the village.
With local schools closed due to their lack of proper shelters, the children attend school online from home. But their energy is not easy to contain. They want to run, explore, and play outside.
“When we first moved back, we wouldn’t let the children play, even in the garden,” Svitlana recalls, “but after the State Emergency Service did an initial inspection, we felt comfortable enough to let them play in the fields that have been inspected.”
Now, she keeps a close eye on them as they play in the areas she knows are safe.
“The kids really want to go play in the forest, but we don’t let them. We only stick to the roads and clear areas we know. It’s hard to come up with things for them to do that feel safe.”
Even in these familiar spaces, the children often come home from playtime with the remains of explosives they found outside. And though they want to explore the nearby Inhulets River, Svitlana and her husband strictly do not allow it – several mine accidents have occurred along the shore.
Hope for the Future
The HALO Trust is at work in Kherson, and HALO’s education teams have already been active in Karierne. The Lebzaks know how to identify explosives and which ones might be dangerous. But they are eagerly awaiting the day they no longer have to put this knowledge to daily use.
Svitlana’s wish for her children is for them to one day enjoy Karierne in peace and to explore it together, just as she did years ago with her own siblings.
"I want them to play in the river like we did when we were kids, to run in the fields like we did,” she says. “I hope that one day we will feel safe enough to let them have this. I know it will not be fast, but I hope that one day, it will happen.”
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