I met Andrii in Irpin when I was studying at University of State Customs Service and he was serving in the National Guard. I was 18 and he was 21. Two years later we got married and moved to Volodymyr after graduation. Our daughter Sofia was born in Volyn.

Later, we bought our own house in Volodymyr, which we had been saving for several years, but we never managed to live in it together…

We discussed everything together. We were supporting each other. Who should I talk to now? I talk to him as if he were a portrait. That’s all.

When the full-scale war started Andriy joined the army as a volunteer and served as a senior soldier in the 63rd Brigade.

During the year of full-scale war my husband came home only twice. The last time we saw each other was in December during his ten-day leave. He said, ‘I’m not worried, I have something to leave behind: you and Sofia.’ Those were his last words before he went back to war.

At the end of December Andriy was performing a combat mission in Bakhmut. In the morning on 25 December it was the last time I spoke to my beloved on the phone. Andriy died the same day.

His comrades later told me that he had managed to warn them of the danger. They called me after the funeral and said, ‘Your Andriy is a hero. Your daughter can be proud of him. He went outside, saw those murderers, informed his comrades, and thus saved them.’ He managed to warn his comrades about the danger.

I feel so empty in my soul. I thought I wouldn’t be able to live. But as you can see I am still alive. I have Sofia. She looks at the soldiers and asks: ‘Is dad there?’ I say, ‘No, daughter. There is no daddy there.’ I told her that dad is the sun. When it shines, it’s dad who warms us.”