On the eve of February 24, Liudmyla went to her parents’ house in the village — and it was there that the war trapped her for two long years. It seemed the steppe would be quieter, yet at the end of March the occupiers entered the village. There was almost no food; people had to survive on what they could grow in their gardens and sell things from their homes. Explosions thundered nearby, drones flew through the streets, artillery was positioned next to houses — life turned into constant fear. For months, the family saved money to get out, and eventually managed to leave through three russian regions and humiliating filtration. Returning to Ukrainian land was true happiness. Now Liudmyla lives in a modular settlement in the Kyiv region and dreams of one thing — that the war will end as soon as possible and her entire large family will meet again at home, in their native Kherson.