When the fighting began in the village of Dmytrivka in the Kyiv region, Tetiana stayed behind with two horses and several dogs. She couldn’t abandon the animals, even when most of her neighbors fled. And so, a young woman was left completely alone. Without electricity, gas, or communication. Later, the horses were killed by shelling, and the dogs lived nearby in the cellar. Every morning Tetiana would come out of her shelter, feed the animals, and scratch the date onto the door with a stone — so as not to lose track of time. Russian checkpoints stood near the village, and enemy soldiers controlled all movement. Tetiana made herself a white flag — from a stick and a sack — and raised it each time she went outside. Survival turned into a routine: cold buckwheat, water from the well, nights in a dark cellar. She didn’t cry — she simply accepted reality and focused on saving herself and her animals. That’s how Tetiana spent almost a month.