"February 24, 2022 was a surprise for us. Many people are now saying that the invasion was a perfectly obvious move. Not for us. I returned to Ukraine in 2021 after six years of living and working in France. My brother Semen returned from Sweden, where he was studying. My parents spent their whole lives in Kyiv. We all believed that in the 21st century war was unlikely to happen here. And so it was a shock for us. And we woke up from the explosions," Anna Oblomei recalls. 

They started volunteering: "I was the manager of the national restaurant award "Sil." Then all the restaurants started preparing food for military personnel, for the military, for everyone. And I thought that I can use my platform to connect people, help them communicate with each other. This is what I started doing, but after two days I already had two kitchens of my own, for which I needed everything – finding groceries, cooking, volunteering, looking for people. 

Semen also became a volunteer, he prepared Molotov cocktails, it was spontaneous volunteering the first week. Later, he started volunteering at the central Kyiv train station, where people were all leaving and needed food and coordination, he was there day and night. Semen wanted to go to the front, and he got there..." Semen Oblomei died near Severodonetsk. 

"I don't know how the war will end. But I would like it to end with a conscious Ukraine. A Ukraine that won, and also defeated some things within that we have to defeat, because without that there will be no future Ukraine," says Anna.