Before the full-scale war, Ihor and Yuliia had their own little paradise in Khutor-Mykhailivskyi: a home, a greenhouse, their own shop. When their border town came under artillery fire and FPV drone attacks, most of their neighbours left. But the couple stayed behind – someone had to deliver bread to elderly people who simply had nowhere to flee.

On the eve of the tragedy, Ihor had a horrifying dream in which he was pulling a fragment out of his head, but he did not cancel his next trip. On June 8, 2026, while on his way to collect bread, his car was attacked by a drone. An explosion. The car was on fire. Still conscious, Ihor lowered his eyes and saw his own severed arm at his feet. Soldiers took him to hospital.

That morning, Yuliia never saw her husband return. The local residents broke the news to her.  She made her way to her husband under the threat of further strikes. She saw Ihor in intensive care. Their eight-year-old son Mark encouraged her: “Dad is strong. He’ll get through this.”

Then came the fight for his life: 12 operations in two months, phantom pain and psychological breakdowns. Yuliia was by his side every minute, suffering from a sense of helplessness.

The family now lives in Shostka. Ihor is preparing for prosthetic fitting and is learning from scratch to do everything with his left hand. “We are a family; together, we are strong,” the couple say today. This is their blood-bought recipe for life, proving that: you can lose your home, your business, or even part of your body, but you cannot destroy the love that holds two people together.