"It was the worst night of my life. There was shelling and explosions on the horizon, and we were sitting in a field"

On February 24, Havrylo was woken up by his father and told that the war had started. He did not believe it, but a crying teacher confirmed the terrible news during an online lesson. Havrylo's hometown – Berdiansk – was occupied by Russia on the first day. For several months, the young man almost never left the house, staying either in his room or in the hallway.

The boy's large family – 4 children – tried to leave the occupation, but the first attempt was unsuccessful. Huge lines at checkpoints where Russian occupiers scrutinized men, hundreds of cars, looted gas stations...

Havrylo and his family spent three days in a bus waiting in line to leave, and they were forced to return to Berdiansk. At the end of May, they miraculously managed to leave for Zaporizhzhia on the second attempt. The boy recalls seeing Ukrainian soldiers and the tears in his eyes from this feeling of freedom. Now 16-year-old Havrylo lives in Odesa, enjoys playing the guitar and dreams of the end of the war most of all.