Mariia Basenko is an educator with 51 years of teaching experience who has devoted her entire life to education. The war burst into her life back in 2014, when both of her sons ended up at the front.  The younger one went through Donetsk Airport and returned home severely wounded.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Mariia Oleksandrivna could not stay at home. She joined a strong volunteer hub in her native village. And she also discovered a new calling for herself: she paints shell casings in the Petrykivka style. “Do you know how many countries your shell casings are already in?” one of the soldiers once said to Mrs. Mariia. Since then, Mariia adds a little flag and the word “Ukraine” every time, so that her painted shell casings would be a symbol of resilience.