At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, New York of the Donetsk region had been surviving under the aggressor's air and artillery strikes. Russian troops had been destroying houses with powerful air bombs. Oleksii's mother was injured as a result of one of the enemy shelling. A shell hit the yard of their house. The woman didn't manage to take cover in a safe place. Oleksii's family survived thanks to humanitarian aid from the government and volunteers until they moved to the calmer Ternopil.