“In the occupied Kherson, my mother and I felt what it was like to survive”

Kseniia is from Kherson. The girl can barely hold back her tears when she talks about what she lost in her past life. After the occupation, her city turned into a nightmare for the people who lived there. It was impossible to switch on the lights during the curfew. There was fear everywhere. 

The girl and her mother stayed in the occupied city alone, because their father could not get to Kherson – he was not allowed to leave the village where he was at the time of the invasion.

But the father managed to get to the government-controlled territory. Kseniia and her mother followed him to Kryvyi Rih. 

The girl took part in an essay competition organised by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, where she told her story.