Katerina’s book captures 140 hours of interviews, tens of thousands of kilometers spent on the road, and, most importantly, immeasurable grief. In this book you will find first-person accounts that are both chilling narratives and impartial evidence offered by eyewitnesses. “This world has enough provocations and fakes. It is time to slow down and simply listen to the voice of a human being.” — Gordeeva says.

These poignant stories capture the profound impact of war on individuals from different walks of life, highlighting their journeys marked by resilience, loss, acts of both humanity and inhumanity, madness, and hope.

The list of the stories’ heroes includes:

— Julia from Mariupol, a young woman joking that she can stick a magnet on the shrapnel in the back of her head.

— Marina from Mariupol, who told Katerina about cockroaches.

— Svetlana Petrenko, an eighty-four-year-old retiree who lost her mind after shellings and slipped back into her childhood, thinking it was 1942 and fascists had occupied her native Avdiivka.

— Ruslan Miroshnichenko, a physical education teacher from Mariupol who dreamed of a demon shortly before their section in the apartment building collapsed.

— Stefania Cecchini, a farmer from Italy who sheltered three families from Mykolaiv at her home.

— Inna from Mariupol, who went out for a walk with her dog. While she was gone, one of Kadyrov’s tanks fired at her apartment, where her husband and other dog were. They died.

— Larisa, whose perception of plastic water bottles has forever changed, tainted by the traumatic ordeal she endured at the hands of kidnappers, who captured on her way to visit her mother-in-law in the occupied territory.

— Ilya, a guy missing a leg. He volunteered for the Security Service of Ukraine and was severely injured by a mine.

— Rita, a young woman hailing from Irpen, has been unable to celebrate her birthday (February 24th) since the onset of the war. Instead, on her birthday in 2023, she takes a momentous step by marrying a man from South Korea, forging a new beginning in a distant land.

— Lyuba, a pregnant woman who couldn’t crouch down while under fire.

— Inga from Mariupol, who lost her son in the bombing and her husband in a war action. She is now in Spain, staying in a popular touristic area, but has never been to the seaside. She was hired as a housekeeper – so she tidies up and irons clothes for the owners who would never show up.

— Lena, a woman whose husband was killed by Russian soldiers, though she was saved by Russian soldiers.

— Kora, a dog who was saved in Bucha.

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