On the morning of February 24, 2022, Svitlana woke up to a loud explosion, and at first she could not believe that it was a Russian attack on Ukraine. She recalls how she started calling her friends and following the news, realising that the attack was coming from different directions. She couldn't leave immediately, so she just watched as many people left her hometown. Very soon, Russian troops occupied the local administrative buildings and other institutions. She remained in the town for eight months of the occupation, trying to continue her normal life, planting a garden and caring for her land. The occupiers behaved defiantly. Eventually, she decided to leave the occupied territory through Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and returned to Ukraine.