Eighteen-year-old Olena remembers well the night her little brother stood by the window and silently watched as tanks moved through the streets. One of them, slowly turning its barrel, opened fire on residential buildings. After that night, the boy could no longer sleep peacefully. 

Alongside the propaganda that was increasingly permeating both her life and her brother’s, Olena lived in constant fear for him. She recalls that even in kindergarten, the boy was dressed in something resembling a naval uniform and taught Russian patriotic poems and songs. “They danced with little Russian flags and played with military toys. And my little boy, who saw the war with his own eyes… I can no longer talk to him — he is now on Russia’s side, even though he is only six years old,” Olena recalls with bitterness. 

At the school where she studied, pupils were also forced to stand and listen to the Russian national anthem. In the summer of 2023, workers from Tajikistan and Chechnya were brought into Mariupol for its reconstruction. From them, Olena and other Ukrainian girls were subjected to constant unwanted sexual advances and persistent harassment. 

“There was a situation where my friend and I were walking and saw a large vehicle — they were Chechens or someone like that… They really wanted to get to know us. We barely managed to run away. It was very frightening and disgusting…” the girl recalls. 

Life under constant stress never let up for a single moment and ultimately became unbearable. With the help of the organization Save Ukraine, Olena found the courage to leave for Ukraine.