February 24, 8:30 am. I woke up as usual, as if nothing was strange, except for a call from my mom at 6:30. Why was she up at that hour? I call her back and immediately get a question about whether I turned on the news, even though she knows I never watch it. Then she said: “Yulia, the war has started, Russia has attacked us,” and then everything was a blur.

It turned out that since six o’clock they had been shelling the Gostomel airport, which is a few kilometers away. I did not hear it, maybe someone was protecting my last hours of peaceful sleep? I don’t know. Then there was a swarm of helicopters with ZAKs. Fear. Despair. Tears. Columns of their armored vehicles. The occupation began, which lasted until April 2, when we saw OUR Ukrainian flag on the armor of a tank or an infantry fighting vehicle. I almost erased the period before April 2 from my memory, as if it were a bad dream.

Now, from time to time, shahids or rockets circle over us, but most importantly, we are FREE!

Yulia, Gostomel