Yulia Petruchenko

Amelia, Diana and Anhelina

Amelia (age 2), Anhelina (14) and Diana (16) lived with their mother in Novohrad-Volynskyi in the north of Ukraine while their father defended the sovereignty of Ukraine on the battlefield. During combat near Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region, he died tragically at the hands of the Russian invaders. His…

Oleh

Six-year-old Oleh and his parents lived in the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast of Ukraine before the war. His father, a military serviceman in the Azov regiment, was killed while defending Mariupol from Russian troops. Forced to flee their home due to Zaporizhzhia’s occupation, Oleh and his mother had to…

Danil and Diana

When the war began, six-year-old Danil and seven-year-old Diana lived in Ivankiv in the Kyiv region. Their father was tragically killed by the occupiers, his vehicle being blown up while transporting family friends to a safer region. He was burned alive by the explosion. Danil, Diana and their mother were…

Artur

Four-year-old Artur’s father was a defender of Mariupol, a serviceman from the Azov regiment. Prior to the war, he was promoted and became a captain, though he did not have the chance to celebrate his achievements and new rank. Artur’s father perished at the Azovstal plant, heroically defending the city…

Marat

Two-year-old Marat lived with his parents in Lysychansk in the eastern Luhansk region. During the beginning of the war, the family hid in their basement to escape the frequent enemy shelling. After leaving to obtain supplies, Marat’s father never returned. It was later revealed that Russian soldiers captured him, tortured…

Ania

Ania is six-years-old and had a happy, carefree childhood in her native Mariupol. She enjoyed typical activities that little girls like her are supposed to, such as going to school and spending time with her family and friends. Everything changed the day Russia began its full-scale war with Ukraine. The…

Nikanor

Nikanor’s family lived in Kharkiv at the beginning of the war. When the invasion began, his father became a local volunteer, striving to help his community. In early March of 2022, he left home to take part in his volunteer activities and never returned. After a long and ultimately unsuccessful…

Karolina

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion into Ukraine, two-year-old Karolina lived in Mariupol. Her father was a solider, who tragically died while defending their hometown. Along with her mother, Karolina had to flee to safety – their apartment completely destroyed, the two of them have no where to…

Sviatoslav

Occupying soldiers invaded Sviatoslav’s village of Levkovychi in the northeastern Chernihiv region on the first day of the war. Its residents witnessed enemy tanks, armored personnel vehicles and artillery mounts roll through their community. The residents, who were determined to protect the village, began bravely preparing Molotov cocktails to defend…

David

Five-year-old David, along with his pregnant mother, lived in an uninhabitable basement of a burned out house in Mariupol for two months to survive the occupation. He never cried, except during one instance when occupying soldiers entered the basement and started shooting indiscriminately in order to intimidate those who were…