These orcs destroy absolutely everything. They fire rockets at us. They send sabotage groups. They shoot indiscriminately at people in the villages and countryside. Near Kyiv is the town of Irpin. Or, I should say, there used to be a town called Irpin. It was full of young couples and their children, as well as lots of new buildings. It has been entirely destroyed by Russians determined to break through into Kyiv. And there are many more sites like this. One of my friends is based in the village of Velyka Dymerka, with no heating or light and almost no food. If someone tries to go outside, the occupiers shoot at them. They can’t even pick up the bodies of compatriots for burial because the Russians fire at them. My friend hasn’t been in touch for days…

I stayed in Kyiv, not because I am fearless, but because this is my land. I love every bit of it, every stone, every building in which I laughed, cried and slept. You never appreciate love for something until you start to lose it, or when some brute tries to forcibly take it away from you. I try to do my bit as a volunteer and by continuing my journalistic work. I’m a relatively young woman, but in recent days I’ve already seen lifeless and broken bodies, visited medical units tasked with saving the lives of our wounded defenders, and witnessed countless examples of quiet, unsung heroism. And all this in my capital city. I cannot even imagine the hell that my friends and colleagues are experiencing in Kharkiv, Mariupol and other areas under siege or temporarily occupied by the Russian hordes. If only the Russians themselves could see what is actually happening, the crimes they are committing and how their “boys” are being “welcomed” by Ukraine.