Alina remembers loud explosions, the constant hits by enemy shells and the danger hanging over her native city. The woman and her family had to hide in the basement, where they lived for seven months.

In July 2022, one of the first russian shells landed in the city, and since then shelling has continued almost every day. Now it is only five kilometres from Nikopol to the occupied territory, twelve to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was captured by the russians. This city once protected the Kakhovka Reservoir from the russian military, but after the occupiers blew up the dam, the water receded. Now Nikopol is separated from the enemy by the willow-covered bottom of the former reservoir, the Dnipro and only a few rivers.