At dawn on February 24, they were woken up by a call from their grandmother: “tanks are coming.” Their father, a serviceman, left on alert, and their mother began calling relatives. In the house they quickly packed an emergency bag. Later the mother of Nelia and Liliia arranged with acquaintances for a basement where they could wait out the danger. That is where the sisters spent ten days. But when the shelling intensified, the family gathered their belongings. Volunteers drove into their yard — it was they who evacuated the children and their mother. The walls of the house where the family lived were saved by the forest. Fragments from shells flew into the pines.

Nelia and Liliia take part in collections and charity fairs. They dream of realizing themselves: one writes essays about the war, the other does photography.