Shattered Windows, Unbroken Spirit
Hanna Pavlovna and her husband, Oleksandr, once lived a quiet and fulfilling life with their five children in the peaceful village of Velyka Pysarivka, nestled near Ukraine’s northeastern border. Their days were filled with the rhythm of farm life—raising rabbits, planting grapes, and nurturing the land that had been in their family for generations. Life wasn’t always easy, but it was theirs, and it was full of love.
Everything changed in an instant on March 12, 2024.
Lives Shattered
That morning, the family had just come in from planting grapes. Hanna was beginning online lessons with the older children, while Oleksandr lingered at the breakfast table. Then, without warning, a thunderous explosion shattered every window in their home. Glass flew like shrapnel. The children screamed. Margarita, the youngest, was bleeding in Hanna’s arms. Chaos. Fear. The unimaginable.
A five-ton guided aerial bomb had struck a checkpoint just 200 meters from their home.
Without time to process what had just happened, the family did what many families in Ukraine have had to do—they ran. Gathering only their documents and what little they could carry, they sought refuge in a cellar at the edge of town. An ambulance soon arrived, rushing them to a hospital in Okhtyrka where the children were treated for their wounds.
Hope came in the form of a phone call: a dormitory in the village of Hrun could take them in.
The family pose together in their small dorm room.
Now Another Displaced Family in Ukraine, Hanna and Her Family Struggle to Find Acceptance
Today, Hanna, Oleksandr, their children, and Hanna’s elderly mother share one large room in that dormitory. Eight twin beds line the space in two neat rows. Two plastic folding tables form a makeshift kitchen. They compress their lives into one room—but their family bond remains unshaken.
In the beginning, the community welcomed them with warmth. But as time passed, the embrace loosened. “We are not at home here,” Hanna says quietly. “At first the attitude was good, but now… it’s as if we’re second-class citizens. We would be happy to return, but there is nowhere left to go back to.”
In the face of loss and displacement, Hanna and her family hold tight to hope. They dream of having their own home again, of planting a kitchen garden where things can grow—where life can begin anew.
Because even after everything, Hanna still believes in new beginnings.
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