Mykhailo’s family hid in their basement for a full week when the full-scale war broke out. Their village in the Kharkiv region immediately found itself in the so-called “grey” zone – a term used to describe activities that do not reach the threshold of conventional military warfare but fall between traditional war and peacetime state. Although there were no Ukrainian soldiers at the time, the Russian army bombed and shelled the area regardless.
In early March of 2022, Mykhailo’s family made the difficult but necessary decision to leave their village. During the evacuation, their car came under fire by Russian troops. Mykhailo’s father and sister were killed immediately. Mykhailo and his mother Olena survived, though they sustained numerous injuries.
Doctors fought hard to save Olena and Mykhailo’s lives for over a month. Fortunately, the two of them survived.
Today, Olena and Mykhailo live in Germany. Mykhailo has started studying at a local college, is actively studying German and dreams of one day becoming an officer in the military.
