Viktoriia is the wife of Mariupol defender Mykola Kurkurin. During the full-scale invasion, Viktoriia remained in the city with her mother, who had cancer, and her twelve-year-old daughter. Her older daughter was living in Kharkiv at the time. 

First, communication disappeared, then water, gas, and electricity. They cooked food over an open fire near the building entrances. After their building was shelled, the family moved to stay with their godparents —  because there was a man there who could make a fire and help them survive. The younger daughter, Liuba, who was 12 then, struggled deeply with not knowing what had happened to her father. She refused to eat and to sleep. 

On 12 April 2022, Mykola Kurkurin was taken prisoner. Later, Viktoriia saw her beloved among other prisoners in a video on russian television. In April, Viktoriia’s mother passed away. Eventually, the family managed to reach the territory controlled by Ukraine. 

On 31 December 2022, Viktoriia’s older daughter called — she was crying and saying that Dad had been exchanged. That evening, on New Year’s Eve, Mykola called his wife himself. After captivity came a long period of rehabilitation and treatment. 

The family received their own housing thanks to the “Heart of Azovstal.  Home” program, which supports the defenders of Mariupol and their families.