On August 24, 2024, Natalia came under fire. She and her daughter were in Kurakhove when they heard the explosions. The two of them hid in the corridor. Three times the shells passed by their house. The fourth one hit the house directly. Despite her eye and leg injuries, Natalia managed to pull herself together and get out of the house. First she helped her daughter, and then she climbed out the window herself. People came running and provided first aid to the victims. Natalia and her daughter were first taken to a local hospital, then to Pokrovsk, and then to Dnipro.

The woman told her story at a health resort in Borzhava, where she is undergoing a rehabilitation programme from Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

Natalia says that thanks to the help she received, she has not given up, even though she was left homeless and injured. She plans to move forward, help her daughter get into university and find a new career for herself. Perhaps in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.