“The bed where I used to sleep is covered in rubble. Half the house is destroyed”

Fifteen-year-old Maksym lives in an IDP hostel in Dnipro. The house in Mariupol, where the boy’s close-knit family always gathered for New Year’s holidays, was destroyed by shelling. The school was also destroyed.

Maksym misses the port and the sea. He misses the peaceful, festive Mariupol. The young man’s biggest fear is a repeat of what he had to go through. Maksym says that the occupation is the worst nightmare he has ever experienced.