On the night of June 2, 2026, Kyiv was shaken by a massive attack involving missiles and attack drones. Buildings were ablaze in different parts of the capital, people were killed, and dozens were injured. One of them was 20-year-old Sofiia Demydiuk – a student choreographer for whom dancing had been the meaning of life since childhood.

That night, Sofiia was making her way down to the shelter in her dormitory. A strike had already hit opposite the building. When she saw a bloodied girl, she stopped to help. It was at that very moment that another explosion rang out. “Everything was happening as if in slow motion. And I was already on the ground. I was the one who needed help,” Sofiia recalls.

An enemy fragment shattered her thigh bone. In a split second, faced with the threat of losing the very thing around which she had built her entire life, she said just one thing: “I’m a dancer. How will I manage without a leg?”

As Sofiia was being dragged towards the dormitory, another explosion rang out, and people shielded her with their bodies. Because of the continuous strikes, they had to wait about two hours for an ambulance, and she was taken to hospital to the sound of explosions. Still unaware of the extent of her injury, she asked the surgeons in the emergency department to operate as soon as possible because she was due to be at work at 7:30 a.m. But months of struggle lay ahead.

Until that night, Sofiia had lived almost without a break: she studied, taught fitness classes, worked with children and danced in a show ballet company, juggling four jobs. Even from her hospital bed, she remotely prepared her young pupils for a competition. And a few days later, they came to her hospital room with medals.

One of the people who fought hardest for Sofiia’s recovery, searched for doctors and supported her was her godfather, Serhii. He died on the night before this interview was recorded. After crying all morning, the young woman did not cancel the shoot. It was critically important to Sofiia to tell the story of the person who saved her at the darkest moment.

Sofiia continues her challenging rehabilitation and is already teaching classes. The 20-year-old choreographer has not doubted it for a moment: she will definitely dance her best solo yet!