Late in the evening on 1 February 2023, a thundering explosion rang out in the centre of Kramatorsk. An enemy missile hit one of the entrances of a residential building and ruined it completely.

Natalia Khizhniak and her family lived in this house, but in a different entrance section. The explosion shattered all the windows in her flat. It took Natalia quite a long time before all the pieces of window glass were removed from her back. The woman, her husband, and son miraculously survived, and their frightened cat, whose fur turned grey, was found only six days later.