“Dad died, mum was hit by a car, and when I was six years old – the war began”

For 18-year-old Ania, the war has lasted for more than ten years – since 2014. This is her entire conscious life.  

At the age of six, the girl left Donetsk with her grandmother Liudmyla due to the fighting. They settled in Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, but in 2022 the full-scale war caught up with them there as well. The family once again endured shelling, life in basements without electricity or water, and another evacuation.  

At present, Ania combines work with her daily studies in order to support herself and her 75-year-old grandmother, who is fighting cancer and heart disease. Most of the girl’s income goes for rent and medication.

Despite everything, Ania hopes to become a psychiatrist so she can help Ukrainians cope with the consequences of what they have lived through. Her story was recorded by the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.