![]() NADWORNY: "First, she carried me," he says, "and now I carry her." He explains that things have gotten much better for them from a year ago. NADWORNY: Her son, Misha, in his 60s, lives with her and takes care of her. When you came last time, I told all my friends and my children. N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Through interpreter) I'm so happy that you came. NADWORNY: "She can actually walk." Nadiia, a petite woman in a floral housecoat, greets us standing with a walker. M YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken). NADWORNY: ".She can walk," her son Misha tells us. MISHA YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken). NADWORNY: When I first met 90-year-old Nadiia Yerkhimovych, she was bedridden, in need of medicine and diapers. NADWORNY: Down the hall in apartment 16, we're greeted with some better news. "But don't worry," he says with a defiant smile. NADWORNY: "We're sorry you're visiting under such circumstances," Pavlo says, as we leave. It also helps that Kyiv feels much safer, so they're no longer scared all the time, and their grandchildren come often to visit. Pavlo has been encouraging her to talk and to read. NADWORNY: They're different words than the ones that come out. NADWORNY: She explains the words she wants to say. A former English teacher, Tamara points to her head. NADWORNY: The stroke has led to what she calls a disease in her brain. She was hesitant to see us in her condition. NADWORNY: Tamara has been listening from the kitchen, a wool shawl draped over her shoulders, her hair pulled back in a headband. NADWORNY: "Yes," he says, "nothing has changed about that." ![]() Last time I was here, you told me that being together was the most important thing in the war. It's one of Tamara's favorites and a Ukrainian specialty. "What else can you expect?" While Tamara has been recovering, Pavlo has taken over the cooking. NADWORNY: "We're in our late 80s," he says. Sometimes she's fine, talking and reading other times, she's confused, unable to speak." NADWORNY: He says "Tamara's healing has been slow. NADWORNY: Pavlo is a former military pilot, and he assures us he's still holding the defensive line. NADWORNY: "One of our defenders is wounded," he says, meaning his wife, Tamara, suffered a stroke this winter, spending seven days in the hospital. NADWORNY: His sense of humor is just as dry as I remember. KOMODOVSKYI: (Through interpreter) Do not take off your shoes. ![]() Pavlo Komodovskyi greets us at his door, his plaid flannel shirt tucked in. NADWORNY: So a year later, I stopped by their apartment building. Were they still alive? Had their lives gotten better as the city of Kyiv had come back to life? NADWORNY: As I covered the war in Ukraine, I thought of them often. ![]() TAMARA VASYLENKO: Our age, we lived many, many years. NADWORNY: "Even though my life isn't great, I don't want to die." Down the hall, her neighbors, Tamara Vasylenko, and her husband, Pavlo Komodovskyi, approached their situation with a bit more levity. N YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken). NADWORNY: Nadiia Yerkhimovych was bedridden in an apartment on the third floor. NADIIA YERKHIMOVYCH: (Non-English language spoken). They were scared, in their 80s, too old to leave the city they'd spent their whole lives in. She recently traveled back to Kyiv to speak with them again.ĮLISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: When I visited the Soviet-style apartment block a year ago, just a handful of residents remained. NPR's Elissa Nadworny introduced us to some of those residents back in March of 2022. About half of its nearly 3 million residents fled to western parts of Ukraine or abroad. In the first month of Russia's war with Ukraine, the city of Kyiv was largely empty.
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