In Mariupol, Nina lost her hearing under nonstop bombardments.  She broke her arm while hiding with her husband in a basement where the walls were collapsing from direct hits. Their home was destroyed, and the exit was blocked. Somewhere nearby, in the darkness of the basement, a wounded neighbor was dying, and no one could help him. 

When russian tanks and aircraft turned the neighborhood into solid ruins, the family managed to escape by a random route — in the neighbors’ half-destroyed car, under shelling. Surviving was a miracle, but that miracle broke from within: because of the explosions, her husband’s heart failed. Nina held his hand until the very end: he whispered to her, “Thank you for our whole life!” — and passed away.