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- Herausgeber: Books on Demand
- Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
- Serie: the library of life - story.one
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
The Story behind 50 million TikTok Views"When Russia invaded my country, Ukraine, my parents, my dog and I fled to a bomb shelter that seemed more than bizarre to me. And because there was WiFi and the days were damn long and also boring, I posted videos to introduce my new home – some of them even went around the world. But my story is actually quite different: It's that of a young girl full of big dreams, who wanted to discover the world and thought war was a bad joke. Until the day I realised I was in the middle of the biggest nightmare of my life." Valeria decided to show the world her hometown Chernihiv and tell the real stories – images and events which none of us could have imagined could have taken place in the 21st century in the middle of Europe. And the horror does not end with her escape to Milan. Once there, Putin's bombs catch up with her and hit her right in the heart of her family. This is her story of bombs, evacuation, live, death and things that only make sense if you have to live in a bomb shelter. "It is horrible when you hear bombs, but you can't do anything – you are just a toy."
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Valeria Shashenok
Things that just make sense in a bomb shelter
story.one - Life is a story
1st edition 2022
© story.one – the library of life – www.story.one
A brand of Storylution GmbH
All rights reserved, in particular that of public performance, transmission by radio and television and translation, including individual parts. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form (by photography, microfilm or other processes) or processed, duplicated or distributed using electronic systems without the written permission of the copyright holder. Despite careful editing, all information in this work is provided without guarantee. Any liability on the part of the authors or editors and the publisher is excluded.
Font set from Minion Pro and Lato.
Editor English Text: David Granger
© Photos: Valeria Shashenok
Contact: [email protected]
ISBN: 978-3-903715-25-7
eISBN: 978-3-903715-26-4
This is not a film. This is real life.Or how life can change.
CONTENT
Dedication
February 24
“Things that just make sense in a bomb shelter”.
The Escape From Ukraine
From Poland Back to Italy
Map of Dreams
Rome, Italy and Milan
Flowers and Warnings
My Father, a Stubborn Mule (Like Me)
Living – and Leaving – Bomb Shelter Life
The Effects of War, Hitler and Auschwitz
The Social (Media) Impact
An Amazing Figure
Humour, Fame & Black Humour
Ukrainian Soul, Bread and Babusya
My Friend Lena´s Photo
Maksim
My Message to the World
Dedication
My name’s Valeria Shashenok. I’m 20 years-old and I come from Chernihiv, just outside of Kyiv in the north of Ukraine.
I’m a freelance photographer and used to use my social accounts – mostly TikTok and Instagram – to show my work to clients.
Then, when Putin decided to invade Ukraine in February 2022, I filmed and photographed what was going on, what I saw, and posted it on these accounts. For one of these posts, I remembered a TikTok trend I’d seen:
”Things that just make sense in …”
For me, at that time, it was ”Things that just make sense in a bomb shelter …” because that‘s where I was living with my mother and father: in a bomb shelter. Since that video was posted, many things have changed. I was no longer simply filming and documenting events in my city to show the world what was happening in Ukraine, now I’d became part of the media coverage: I was interviewed by CNN and on the BBC – and because of this, suddenly I began to get millions of views on my own channels.
The stories I was interviewed about were how I escaped in cars, trains and buses from the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv to Warsaw in Poland then Berlin in Germany before finally ending up in Milan. I had travelled to Italy before the war – I love the country. It was one of the pictures on my “Map of Dreams” I had in my flat which I put together to map out what I wanted to achieve and do. On it there were pictures of different things … of Italy and Scrooge McDuck diving into a pile of money.
But it wasn‘t all TikTok trends and funny films during my escape from Ukraine.
On 30 March 2022, I posted a story about my cousin who was like a brother to me. He was killed by a Russian bomb. On this post, there were three pictures and in the caption I said it was Putin who had killed my cousin. I want everyone to know what has happened to me. Because, for me, this war is a terrible reality.
I posted the story about my cousin at 10pm and within 24 hours it was seen by a lot of people. But people seeing the post and knowing the story of my cousin doesn‘t change anything – it won’t change the fact he was killed by a Russian bomb.
This book is not dedicated to my cousin. And it’s not dedicated to my mom or my dad (both of whom are still in Ukraine) or to the people of Chernihiv or to all those who have been killed during the invasion.
Actually, I want to dedicate these stories to the Russian people. Because many people in Russia still don‘t believe that this is a war against Ukraine, but a “special operation”. But in a special operation, Russian soldiers wouldn’t use this level of violence, destroy houses, shave women‘s heads or abuse children.
February 24
February 24 was the day war started, the day it all really began for me.
My mom came into my room and said: “Valeria – there’s been a bomb in Kyiv and destroyed buildings.” I actually live in my flat in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv, but a few days before February 24, I had travelled to Chernihiv, back to be with my parents to the home they lived in and I grew up in.
Our flat in Chernihiv, where I grew up, is the best place in the world. It’s full of memories and emotions. I experienced all the ups and downs of my childhood there. It‘s an apartment with high ceilings and big windows and I love it when the wooden floor creaks when I enter my bedroom. I like it when I come into the kitchen and my mother is cooking – it‘s really cosy, really comforting.
This flat, this place, takes me back to when I was a child. I am the youngest in the family which means I will always remain the little girl to everyone. The school I went to is close to our house and I had a wonderful time there – even though all the teachers hated me (!).
That morning, February 24, it was a very strange feeling when my mom woke me up. The first thing I wanted to know was which buildings had been bombed and where, so I turned on my phone to check if my friends had written anything in our Telegram group. Telegram is the app where we discuss everything.
