My boyfriend Dmytro volunteered at once to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I and my parents, who are pensioners, went to Germany as refugees. There I regrouped and found enough strength to travel back to Ukraine within two weeks. At the border crossing I witnessed scenes of despair that will haunt me forever. I also experienced the tremendous help from our European neighbours, namely Poles. Later I learned that a former classmate in conflict resolution Artem Klimov died in the battle for Ukraine. In my opinion, one of the ways to pay tribute to our heroes is to keep on living and dreaming and making plans. In short - not to give the war a chance to take away your present nor to deny us our future.

My life has changed. We married with Dmytro on March 19, 2022. I dived deeper than before into the practical world of peacebuilding. I now work as a regional representative of the network in Eastern Europe for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict. Also, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, I have been providing specialized advice to the Secretariat of the Partnership for Ukraine. I will continue to invest my knowledge, skills and energy in processes that will contribute to the strengthening of Ukraine and Ukrainian society through the project potential of peacebuilding. This is very important for me because Ukraine is my home.