Russian troops occupied the city of Enerhodar and the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in early March 2022. Teacher Valentyna Kuzmenko recalls how the invaders entered the school, how the first-graders were afraid of strangers with weapons, and how, very soon, they had to leave the school.

Valentyna's children and grandchildren are soldiers. And the house where she lived had many neighbours who held senior positions in the city. They were taken from their apartments by the occupiers and taken to basements. Valentyna realised that the same fate awaited her! So she abandoned everything and left.

Already on the territory controlled by Ukraine, she learned that Russians had entered her apartment. They sawed down the door and occupied the apartment. One of the locals pointed out where the military family lived.