Sofia from Brovary had to abruptly say goodbye to her carefree youth on February 24. She dreamed of becoming a dermatologist, worked as a manicurist since the age of 15, and enjoyed life in her hometown. However, the Great War forced her to rethink her values, change her profession, and learn to find a home where you are now.
A premonition of the irreversible
Even on the eve of the full-scale invasion, on February 23, Sofia felt an inexplicable anxiety. While walking through the evening park with her boyfriend, she noticed an eerie silence on the always bustling streets of Brovary.
“I said something to him: ‘Suddenly, will the war start tomorrow?’ We laughed, saying that probably not, but inside there was anxiety. Then I came home and told my parents the same thing. Dad told me not to make up nonsense, but that night I begged my mom to sleep with me,” the girl recalls.
| The aftermath of the massive attack on Brovary on March 14, 2026. Photo REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
At five in the morning, they were awakened by explosions that shook the windows. At first, they thought they were firecrackers, but when they looked out into the street and saw people running from their houses to their cars in panic, the family realized that war had begun.
"We heard the first explosions two weeks later. My brother and I were at home when the explosion went off almost right next to our street. It was the scariest thing, because that's when I realized how close this horror was," the girl recalls.
The illusion of security and the revaluation of values
The first attempt at evacuation was to visit relatives in the neighboring village of Kniazhychi. At that time, it seemed that it would be safer outside the city. However, spending the night in an old village hut to the sounds of explosions turned out to be an even more terrible ordeal. Every evening, the girl said goodbye to life, expecting that a shell might hit the house.
When the decision was made to evacuate further, to the west of Ukraine, parting with my father became one of the most difficult moments. "And it turns out that we are standing at the train station, the little one starts crying, my godfather starts crying, and then my mother is already crying... I also want to cry so much, because I don't know what to do next. But I remembered my father's words, who always said to all my problems: "You are a soldier, don't cry." I remembered my father and held on."
Rescue train and baby formula with tea
The road to Lviv became a real test of humanity. Overcrowded cars, where people stood in a crush, as if in a jar, pain, fatigue and fear. But even in these conditions, Ukrainians saved each other.
Sofia remembers a young mother who gave birth literally in the first days of the war, and her husband died from an enemy attack. The baby was crying from hunger, and people were looking for hot water all over the car. One of the passengers took out a thermos of hot tea – and it was on it that they mixed the baby formula. When the child finally ate and calmed down, the whole car was happy.
From medicine to SMM: finding yourself in a new city
| Sofia (right) with her classmate Yulia Filip (co-author of the “Sustainable Generation” project), first years of study at UzhNU. Archive photos
Initially, the family found shelter in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, in the city of Dolyna. A complete stranger took them into his home and in a few months they became a real family. The war also made adjustments to Sofia's education. The medical college switched to a distance learning format, but the girl soberly assessed the situation: real medicine cannot be studied online. She took her documents and entered UzhNU in Uzhgorod. Although adaptation in Transcarpathia was not easy due to the lack of acquaintances, it was at the university that Sofia found new friends and opened up new opportunities for herself.
Return to native Brovary
Today, Sofia is back in Brovary. She works as an SMM specialist, is developing in a new profession, and is happy to be close to her loved ones. Despite the fact that it would be objectively safer in Uzhhorod, the girl's heart chose home.
Danger remains nearby. Sofia recalls the large-scale shelling during the broadcast of Oleksandr Usyk's victorious fight. Then, being on the 17th floor, she saw with her own eyes the sky over Kyiv orange from fires and heard missiles flying over their house. But fear no longer paralyzes her as it did in the first days.
“The war taught me to live one day at a time, to enjoy this life to the fullest, even if there are negative moments,” Sofia concludes.
Her story is not just about loss, but also about incredible resilience, the ability to change one's path and find light even in the darkest of times. It is the story of a resilient generation that chooses life every day.