Mykyta and Arsen

Mykyta's story: Written by his father Artem

We are an ordinary Ukrainian family: father Artem, mother Kateryna, son Mykуta and daughter Solomiya. Artem is a hockey coach and coach’s juniors at Sokil-Kyiv CYSS. In the past he was a hockey player, more than once defended the honor of Ukraine in international tournaments as part of the national hockey team. Kateryna - work at a children's school in gymnastics. Mykyta, 15 years old. Of course, following his father's example, he plays hockey and goes to school. Daughter Solomiia, 9 years old. She is very creative girl who is engaged in vocals and theatrical art. But from February 24, 2022, our lives were divided into before and after. At 5 am we woke up from the explosions that took place over Kyiv. Russia began bombing Ukraine from east to west at the same time. Panic broke out, everyone called each other, went somewhere. But at such a moment you do not understand at all what to do. We were not preparing for that. All our friends started leaving Kyiv. We also went to a village near Kyiv, to our sister, to a house with a basement. At that time, 18 people gathered in our house. The Russian army began to move quite actively from the territory of Belarus in the direction of Kiev. And capture one village after another in Kyiv, Chernihiv and other regions. The real hell began. 7 nights we slept in the basement of the house, it was dangerous not to be in the bomb shelter. In February it was still quite cold, so we slept in outerwear, warmed in the house. Our men were on duty at night and watching the news. On March 4, the Hockey Federation of Ukraine offered to take Mykyta to Latvia with other young hockey players. They said that there will be an opportunity to train and study. Without even

thinking, we agreed, although it was very difficult to release one Mykyta, not knowing what could happen to us and when we see each other again. The most important thing was to save the children, to take them to a safe place. In 2 days Mykyta was in Latvia, in the city

of Daugavpils. They were very hospitably received by the city administration and community. They gave the opportunity to continue training in the hockey team with free accommodation and meals for 90 days. All the other members of our family were still near Kyiv, and it was becoming more and more dangerous. When the capture of all the neighboring towns, such as Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, began, we realized that if we do not leave now, there may not be a second chance. Some of our friends came under occupation, under fire. Artem decided to stay in Kyiv, and the girls left for western Ukraine. It wasn't safe there either, but it was calmer. When it became calmer in Kyiv, we returned home. The war is still going on. All this time we wake up every morning hoping for good news. Our children in Ukraine no longer

have the opportunity to go to school, to attend their favorite clubs. We have lost our jobs, and we are trying to find a new job and work on the victory of our country. We took the family from Kharkiv to our apartment. Since Kharkiv is still under constant fire. Half of the city is simply destroyed. Many of our friends have nowhere else to go, their homes have been destroyed. Their stay in Europe is coming to an end and they need help. War is a terrible grief that has changed the life of every family, every person. We haven't seen our son all this time. But he is safe, and it is reassuring. He met wonderful people, they help Mykyta to go to the US, go to school there, and have the opportunity to train there while the hostilities continue in our country. We are very grateful to everyone who helps us with the arrangement of Mykyta. We hope that this war will end as soon as possible! But we will live together again in a peaceful and prosperous Ukraine.

Arsens story: Written by Arsen

Hello, everybody. My name is Arsen Moskalenlo. I am 16 years old hockey player from Ukraine who has a dream to play in USA. One day I believe that I will play in NHL and my hockey dreams will become true. Hockey is my life and I have been skating since 5 years old. I am from Kharkiv. Kharkiv is a very beautiful city on the East of Ukraine. It is a first capital of Ukraine. One day, I woke up on 23rd of February in my apartment at 5 a.m in the morning from the sirens and screaming of people. I was very scared and confused what is happening. My mom talked to me quietly: Arsen, Russia started their invasion. They are bombing Kharkiv. The war has started”. I was shaking inside… For me it felt it was the worse nightmare in my life. Loud noises indicated my mom is right and it does sounds as explosions. Later, we got our pets, backpack, some food and we spend almost 15 days with my family in the bomb shelter. It was unsafe to come out since sirens and bombing never stopped. I still remember this loud sounds that stopped me from sleeping for the long time. First 10 days felt like hell. Some people who decided to ignore sirens and stay in their apartments were dying since Russia was hitting civilians houses and you never when your home is next. In 15 days we decided to leave everything at home and run. My rink that I used to skate got destroyed. City of Dnipro, where I played last year, is under bombings as well. Everything that was very important to me was destroyed and took away by Russians. My family was separated, my friends had to run, my favourite city being destroyed day by day… My life changed since the 23rd of February. And it will never be the same. I got in the car with my grandma and my mom, with my dog and we started to drive towards Slovakia. It took us 6 days to get to Slovakia and pass the border safely. We did not stop for food much or in the hotels, only for fuel because we wanted to get somewhere where is safe and couple places that we place were under air shooting. We were driving fast. My dad stayed at home, in Ukraine. I stayed in Slovakia until end of March and then flew into USA. The worse is a feeling when you do not know if there will be tomorrow. I hope to stay here and play hockey, go to school. I have not skated for couple months due to war and happy that I can practice and play in USA now. Kharkiv is still unsafe place to be and we still have once in a while bombings. But I believe Ukraine will win, because we are strong and beautiful country with brave people.

These two young men are excellent young men, athletes, students, and somehow stay upbeat even after everything they have been through. Lets please help them out through a very tough time in their lives. Their parents are unable to provide the funds needed to keep their dreams and passions alive so that is where we all come in!

Funds will help support their schooling, athletics, living expenses, and help take stress off of each of their families. Thank you for reading their stories and anything helps at this point. We all have the opportunity to change lives and show our support for young men/families that are in a very tough situation.