The house of Antonina, a pensioner from Moshchun, was destroyed by a Russian bomb. The children did not immediately tell her about it, but a week later, “they brought the news with a sedative.”

Tetiana Shyrant lived in the Moshchun with a large family in the house her parents built in 1963. Unfortunately, their home was destroyed, and later everything burned to the ground. Tetiana admits that she has no plans for the future.

During the bombardment of Borodianka, Vasyl hid in a neighbor's cellar. Then, one day he decided to go home and cook some food. At that moment, a shell hit his house. It burned so that everything around melted.

The Russian military stole Roman’s car and later returned it without registration plates. The street near his dacha (summer cottage) was “crammed with Kamaz trucks” carrying Russian military men who admitted they had come to earn extra money for a car.

Okhtyrka resident lost her son on the second day of Russia’s invasion, he died while helping to equip a bomb shelter in a kindergarten. Due to constant shelling, they were able to bury him only three days later.

Volunteer of the Red Cross of Ukraine — Tamara Shehin spent four months in the occupied Izium. She talks about how the Russians dropped cluster bombs on the city, shot down cars, and tormented people.

We met 78-year-old Viktor on the ruins of his private house in Moschun in the Kyiv Region. For many years he has been equipping his dwelling, which was destroyed instantly by an artillery shell when the Russian troops went toward Kyiv in March 2022.

Olena’s father died on the seventh day of the war, defending his house in the village of Yahidne. He was a pensioner, but when the Russian invaders entered the village, he picked up a hunting rifle and went against the enemy.

Unfortunately, not everyone came out of the basement when the Ukrainian army de-occupied the village. The Russians allowed women to go outside only once on 8 March, this was the way to congratulate them on International Women’s Day.

“I couldn’t leave my dog,” says Nataliia from Borodianka. One day, eight Russian soldiers entered their house and began looking for the “Nazis”. According to Nataliia, they did not understand that no one was expecting such “liberators”.

Vadym Kutsenko served in Ukrainian Army and resigned before the end of 2021. In February, he came to Kupiansk on business, and found himself caught up in the Russian invasion. Someone informed on him, and he ended up in the infamous Kupiansk detention center.

Tetiana Klihunova and her family survived the occupation in the village of Borodianka. She had to communicate with the Russian military and bury her neighbors in the garden. She confesses that household chores saved her.

A resident of Borodianka, Valentyna Torhonska, was hiding with other people in the basement when a shell exploded near her house. In her declining years, she is homeless and doesn’t know how to continue her life.

A vast number of animals have suffered since the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression. Cynologist Serhii Neboha helps his colleagues save dogs and talks about the problems of evacuation, cases of cruelty to animals, and the destruction of kennels.

In just a month of occupation, the Russians destroyed the center of Trostianets, bringing death and injury to hundreds of families. The military shot Serhii's mother on the way to the hospital. Also, the biscuit shop where Serhii worked burned down at the chocolate factory.

Mariupol resident Vira Mykytivna Tiata worked as a kindergarten teacher for 48 years. Even in the worst nightmare, she could not imagine that she would have to hide in the basement from the bombing and that Russian invaders would destroy everything she had acquired.

Ninel Chernyshenko, a resident of Borodianka, saw with her own eyes how Russian planes deliberately dropped bombs on peaceful houses. Yet, against all odds, she believes in victory, peace, and the restoration of Ukraine.

Blooming and beautiful — with these words, Liudmyla Halaka describes Borodianka. However, neither the beauty nor the amenities that struck the Russian occupiers prevented them from destroying not only the village but also human lives.

As a result of the airstrike, Iryna’s husband and a two-year-old son were injured. Their apartment was destroyed. But she wants to live in Borodianka and hopes to earn money for new housing.

Despite the persuasions of the children, a couple of pensioners from Borodianka refused to evacuate. They survived the air raids and saw the helicopters flying low overhead. Then, one day, Russians broke into their yard and began an interrogation.