“I was born in war and will die in war”

Maria, an 86-year-old grandmother from Orikhov, a village on the front line, has little hope that she will experience the end of an endless “war”.

As a result of the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian troops to the Ukrainian border, the whole world fears that we are heading toward a Russian invasion of its much smaller neighbours.

At least during World War II, things went faster. This war is raging and we've entered its eighth year, we have only to hope that this will soon end”, says Maria for Al Jazeera, referring to the recent conflict when Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crime in 2014.

She is one of the 900,000 elderly who, according to the United Nations, needed help on the Ukrainian frontline, while saying that most pensioners in border villages are depressed, anxious, and lonely.

Anna Davidovna, 86, a pensioner who lives two miles [3 km] from the front line in the village of Zolote, describes the conflict with Russia as the worst “than World War II”.

Referring to unbroken objects, she says “we don't just hear shots, but we also see thousands of unbroken and dangerous”

This reminds her of an incident she had experienced in World War II.

When I was a child, my sister and I played near the river where tomatoes and cucumbers grew. One day we found a toy that looked like fruit. But when we brought him home, our father immediately took him away and threw him out the window. He told us that it was grenade”, she confessed.

I'm feeling bored. I remember the time when as a child we played outside the courtyard and occasionally listened to wounded soldiers crying and begging them to kill because they had so much pain”.

Dmitry Tymchak, representative of the Caritas “Donetsk”, which supports older people, says the 2014 “war has deeply affected” the physical health and emotional state of the people.

“War has divided their lives into two periods: before and after the war”, he says.

According to Kiev, the 2014-2021 war in eastern Ukraine has killed 14,000 people.

Besides the war, life in Ukraine's villages is extremely difficult as a result of the cold weather. The temperature is down to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lydia Petrovna, 85, who lives in the border town of Marinka, says she does not want to leave.

She lives in a loaded house surrounded by signs warning snipers and landmines.

I've been offered an opportunity to leave for Kiev and home for the elderly. But this is my home, and here I've lived all my life. I'm not leaving. I want to die on my bed”, she says.

Lydia is the only person left on the street where military maneuvers can be seen. Her food is brought to the local volunteers.

“I'm the doctor of myself because no other doctors can't come here”, she says, until she takes daily medicines and eats a piece of dried bread.

When I lie in the yard, I don't have anyone to come pick me up. When I'm afraid of grants, I hug my cats. I was born in a war and I'm going to die in a fight”, it's over.(Alyzeera/Periscopi)