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He
is part of a small community of visually impaired people in the
eastern city of Kharkiv who can hear the war but cannot see the
damage wrought by nearly six months of Russian bombardment.
"Potentially, I could be stepping on something that might
explode. It’s horrible, really horrible. It's dangerous for me
to go outside," Solovyanenko, 54, told Reuters. "I try to walk
around the city as little as possible because it's dangerous."
He lives in a hostel run by the Ukrainian Society of the Blind
that provided shelter for 60 people before Russia invaded
Ukraine on Feb. 24. Many have now fled abroad but 18 remain.
Solovyanenko touches the walls to feel his way around the hostel
but can perform tasks such as ironing. He shares meals with
fellow resident Natalia Pokutnia.
"Everyone laughs at this, but I have a good visual memory. I
remember where to go, but if there's a pit, I will certainly
fall right into it," Pokutnia said.
Because she cannot see, she found the start of the war confusing
and chaotic.
"At first, we didn't understand what was going on. Like
seriously, everything got so chaotic. I probably heard
airplanes, I haven't seen them myself, people told me that," she
said.
"We immediately covered and closed the window so that we
wouldn't be visible. The guys told me it was horrifying, they
saw yellow round spots flying around. Here, everything was
moving and shaking. It was horrible."
Ukraine drove Russian forces back from the outskirts of Kharkiv
in May but the city, Ukraine's second largest, remains under
fire. Russia has denied targeting civilians, but many
residential buildings in the city have been damaged.
(Writing by Timothy HeritageEditing by Gareth Jones)
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