Iron Bridge – A Village of “Iron” People

Zaliznyi Mist is a village in the Chernihiv region, located just three kilometers from the border with Russia. Before the full-scale war, the population here was just over 200 people. Now, the number of residents is significantly lower. Only those who cannot leave for various reasons remain.

The village is shelled almost daily. Although there are no military bases here, the treacherous enemy gives the locals no peace.

Between the shelling, the locals tend to their fields and grow vegetables because purchasing products in stores is not always possible.

We arrive with humanitarian aid, but people are reluctant to leave their homes. They are afraid.

Many people have stayed here out of desperation, as they must care for bedridden relatives. Adult diapers are essential for such families, but they often lack the means to obtain them, both physically and financially.

One of the local residents, with tears in her eyes, tells how the Russians “liberated” her. Liberated from her home, garden, and plans for the future.

“The first shell hit the garden, then the house. The entire house burned down. Nothing was left. Now only the ruins and the stove that survived the shelling remind me of my home.”

The woman describes the layout of the rooms, furniture, and household appliances. All of this now exists only in her memory. She had worked her whole life to arrange her home, putting all her soul and earnings into making her family live in comfort and coziness. She built another house in the yard for her children’s new family.

In a separate barn, she kept five cows, which were the breadwinners for the whole family.

But the “Russian world” spares no one and nothing. Everything was destroyed to the ground.

The only reminders of the former life are the ruins.

The aid she received from the Morning Star Charitable Foundation is a resource for survival in extremely difficult conditions, under constant Russian shelling.

When the locals realized we were Ukrainians bringing aid from our partners, they lined up and waited in different parts of the village.

They saw us off with words, “God bless you.”

And we pray that God protects each of them!