In February 2022, russia soldiers entered the village of Levkovychi in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region and, that same evening, shot and killed 34-year-old Yaroslav Varava along with three other local men. Yaroslav’s wife, Ania, found his body in the centre of the village. Under shelling, she dug a grave in her own garden because there was no one available to bury the dead. 

A few months earlier, she had lost her unborn daughter. During the occupation, her father-in-law also died due to a lack of medicine and medical care. The loss of his son left the elderly man bedridden. 

Despite everything she has endured, Ania says she does not want to be remembered only for the war, the loss of her husband, and the tragedy of occupation. After experiencing panic attacks, emotional breakdowns, and spending a long time working with a psychologist, she began writing books. Today, she dreams of becoming known not as “the woman whose husband was killed by the russians,” but as a writer. She is raising her son, Sviatoslav, on her own, fundraising to publish new novels, and believes that even after the darkest trauma, a person can learn to live, dream, and build a future again.