A Love That Endures: The Shkarlets of Lysychansk

Elena and Viktor Shkarlet’s love story began in distant Yakutia, where they discovered their shared Ukrainian roots. For 42 years, they built a life together in Lysychansk — a modest home, a late-in-life son, a small homestead with chickens. Elena knitted while Viktor fished and ran his auto repair shop. Their aging industrial hometown, with its 17 mines and factories, was home.

Then came the explosions. Living dangerously close to a military training ground, the Shkarlets fled on March 21 as shells began landing near their house. They made their own way to Vinnytsia region, finding temporary refuge with relatives before deteriorating relationships forced them to move again.

In Panchenko, Kirovohrad region, they settled in a dilapidated cottage without basic amenities. As walls crumbled around them, hope arrived through a displaced persons' group announcement. When the foundation called about Senior Chudo Village, they initially responded with disbelief.

Arriving at apartment 9.4 on December 17, 2024, they stood in shock — everything was clean, warm, and comfortable. For Viktor, a Ministry of Internal Affairs pensioner since 2002 who’s missing a limb and lives with diabetes, the village provided an excellent wheelchair.

“Our only plan is to get a prosthesis, ” Elena shares, “and for peace to come, because we have no strength left for this struggle.”

To Dell Loy Hansen, the 65-year-old former entrepreneur and her 64-year-old husband wish good health and fulfillment of dreams. “We are very grateful this person opened their heart to us, ” Elena says. “This is truly a person with a capital P.”

After four decades together, the Shkarlets face this new chapter with the same resilience that has carried them through a lifetime. In Senior Chudo Village, they’ve found not just shelter, but salvation — a community that understands elderly displaced persons need care because their age doesn’t allow them to start from scratch.

For now, they’re settling in, grateful for warmth both literal and figurative — a stark contrast to the disintegrating cottage and the war they left behind.