Maryna had been connected to the Kyiv Palace of Children and Youth since childhood, and later began working there. The full-scale invasion caught her off guard — on February 23 she was preparing for a festival, and on the 24th she woke up at home to the sound of explosions. In the first days, there was confusion — no one knew what to do, how to work, where the shelters were. On March 9, Maryna returned to the Palace together with her colleagues: they took shifts, helped volunteers, started remote work with children — conducted online classes, offered moral support, organized challenges. It was difficult — especially because of the fear, the losses, and the uncertainty in which the children lived. But for Maryna, the most important thing was not to lose connection, to give the children a sense of support and stability even in the darkest times.