On February 24, 2022, at 4 a.m., Vira and her sister returned to Kyiv from Lviv. The woman recalls how on the way she kept convincing her sister that war was impossible, but just half an hour later the first explosions were heard in Kyiv. The whole family was in Vasylkiv, so Vira, with a nearly empty fuel tank, set off for her hometown through traffic jams and chaos. The first months of the war the family spent in the basement, and her son, going to bed, kept an axe next to him – in case of an attack by russian sabotage groups. But the city held out, and over time people adapted to life during the war. The hope for victory, just like before, keeps Vira going even today, because light always triumphs over darkness.