Iryna did not leave Bakhmut until February 2023 – she could not leave her bedridden mother. When the electricity, water and gas went out, they moved to a friend’s private house. They lived like primitive people, Iryna recalls, melted snow to get industrial water. After a bomb hit a neighbouring house, the building where Iryna lived collapsed, and her mother had to be literally dug out of the rubble. The family moved to another house, but soon there was a hit next to it. Then they fled in their clothes, wrapping three cats in pillowcases. And although Kyiv, where Iryna now lives, inspires with its opportunities, her heart has always remained in Bakhmut, because it is her home, which she will never see again.