The war caught Olena in Mariupol with her sister, daughter and two grandsons. The youngest was only a few months old and the eldest was two years old. The decision to leave was made after an aerial bomb fell near the house and created a blast 12 metres in diameter and the same amount in depth. On the way to Zaporizhzhya, a column was shot in front of them. The eldest grandson stopped speaking because of the experience.