Mariia Halata, a nurse in the surgical department of Borodianka Central Hospital, met the first days of the war in the operating theatre. On February 24, 2022, she and her colleagues immediately went to the hospital. Mariia recalls some of the first victims – a family from Hostomel. Their car was shelled by russians when they were trying to leave for Zhytomyr region. The baby had shrapnel wounds, and the mother’s arm was shot through.

“It was the first baby we had ever seen in such a condition... It was very hard to go through it – we did everything we could,” says Mariia. Later, she saw the story on TV: the girl they had saved was alive. “We were all crying then. I was crying too. It was that rare moment when I believed in life again,” she recalls.  Mariia later left Borodianka and went home, saving people in her native village of Klavdiievo-Tarasove.

One day, two little sisters were brought to the shelter. One was evacuated with her father and survived. But for another child, Mariia says, “we had to close her eyes...”.

But despite the fear, pain and death, there were bright spots. People who became a family. Neighbours who shared the last piece of bread. Colleagues who did not leave the hospital at night. Volunteers who helped doctors even when they had nothing. “We weren’t at home, we didn’t eat, but someone would bring us bread. Just like that. Because they knew we were saving someone...”

When the Ukrainian tanks entered the village, Mariia was frightened at first – she did not understand. Were they ours or not? But when she saw the Ukrainian flag, she burst into tears right on the street. People came out of hiding and hugged the defenders. “I will never forget this moment – when you see that you have survived.”