During the first days of the full-scale invasion, Viktor Prokopenko, together with fellow villagers, helped the military — he passed on the coordinates of the occupiers’ equipment, fed the soldiers, and gave them shelter. After the battles, they often came back, thanked him, and called him their godfather.

Viktor’s son, Yaroslav Prokopenko, volunteered to go to the front and was killed near Bakhmut, by the village of Zvanivka, as part of an artillery unit. For Viktor, this pain never subsides. He says that time does not heal — every day he remembers his son, his call before the last battle, the broken words over the phone, and the silence after the explosion. He says that now he lives with the memory of his son and with faith that all those who return will know what they were standing for.