The director of the psycho-neurological institution, Volodymyr Sherstyuk, survived the russian occupation and preserved the institution, p. Sands-Radkivski.
The psycho-neurological institution in the village of Pisky-Radkivski in Kharkiv region was occupied for five months - from April to September.
For two months, 240 people lived in the institution, who were fed without electricity and gas - on generators and stoves. Currently, 167 wards remain in the institution. How the institution lives - material by Suspilne Kharkiv.
Colleagues and wards were saved from the shooting
Four times during the occupation, russians took Volodymyr Sherstyuk, director of the psycho-neurological institution, to be shot. Once they wanted to do it on the territory of the psycho-neurological institution. The occupiers were sure, says Volodymyr, that he was hidesing the Ukrainian military in the facility.
"They stopped near the gate, two guards were at the gate, they started shooting at them, they were put down, undressed, they were lying below. And they took me behind the building, and there behind the building he said: "I will shoot you here." Then the employees began to leave , the wards came out, shouted. They saw that there were a lot of people and quieted down," Sherstyuk recalls.
The man says that the threats to shoot him stopped after a visit to the psycho-neurological institution of one of the heads of the self-styled military administration of the occupiers. The russian was very surprised that the facility is in good condition and has its own farm, says Volodymyr.
"We kept piglets. We slaughtered one piglet at a time. Somewhere we had enough for a week. Because there were so many people, we stretched the meat little by little. We had our own milk. We milked our cows," says the director.
Preparing for winter
Cakes on the menu of the psycho-neurological institution in the village of Pisky-Radkivskii appeared during the russian occupation, says cook Maria Zhgutova: "When there was electricity, we baked bread in the oven. We baked loaves, we baked pies. And now there is no electricity, of course we bake it on the pan".
Currently, there is no electricity or gas in the village. Food in the institution is prepared on wood-burning stoves. The kitchen is illuminated with an LED strip, water is pumped using a generator. They are heated by their own boiler room. The psycho-neurological institution is autonomous, so people will not be evacuated from here, says Volodymyr.
"It's all over now. It's all over, thank God that all the wards are alive. The psycho-neurological institution, thank God, was saved. I told ours: don't stop, do, do something. They're shooting - do not pay attention. Let's do something," — says Volodymyr Sherstyuk.
The director says that preparations for the winter in the psycho-neurological institution continue. Firewood is being prepared and light generators are waiting to be handed over by volunteers.
