A resident of Krasne village in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, Svitlana Khandoga taught history before the war, and after the school closed, she became a clerk. At the start of the full-scale invasion, the villagers took in many refugees from neighboring occupied settlements. “We worked without days off — going out every day,” recalls the interviewee. 

Svitlana remembers the stories of those people. “One woman hadn’t seen her son, who lives across the street, for a month. They stayed in basements. They learned about each other through relatives in Canada — it was easier to contact them than anyone nearby,” she says.

One family with a tenth-grade daughter recounted how a russian occupier came to their home drunk, forced the whole family to kneel, and almost raped the girl. “Fortunately, the family was large, and the enemy’s headquarters was nearby,” shares the Krasne resident, “one of the adults ran quickly and brought their commander.” After the liberation of Kyiv region, Svitlana joined volunteer initiatives.