The wounded Darina hid and pretended to be dead to survive.

13-year-old Daryna miraculously survived the occupation in the village of Katyuzhanka in the Kyiv region. The girl pretended to be dead so that the Russian military would not shoot her.

At the end of February 2022, a Russian column entered the village. Then the girl and her family were trying to drive home from a nearby street when the occupiers opened fire on the car. The car caught fire, Darina’s father and his wife died on the spot.

The girl tried to escape, but the military fired a machine gun and severely wounded her in the arm and thigh. Darina hid and died, saving her life.