In the first weeks of the war, Volodymyr worked at the boiler house, and his wife worked for the ambulance service. They barely had time to grasp what was happening when a mine landed in their yard: the explosion tore open the roof, broke the stove, and shredded the entire courtyard. "We lived on the outskirts — and the house was simply ripped apart," the man says.

The children left first, while he and his wife stayed a little longer. One day a rocket fell right under the ambulance building where his wife worked, but fortunately did not explode. After that attack, the couple left Orikhiv.

At the time of the interview, Volodymyr was still occasionally visiting his home — to repair the roof. "The walls are standing — we’ll fix the rest. Maybe someone will help, maybe I’ll manage on my own," he says.