4 years of terror in Ukraine....

4 years of full-scale invasion, terror, torture, murders, kidnappings, rapes, violation, atrocities, vandalism, thefts, and genocide….

But these were also 4 years of fight, defiance, resistance, courage, faith, humanity, support, revelations, belief, and a path returning to our roots and our identity….

23.02.2022. My mother had her birthday. She felt bad, and tomorrow she should make a small manipulation in the hospital with her lungs - she had liquid. I did not know what it meant at the time - these were metastases. This is a story of my family, but also a universal story of people living with cancer in its advanced, terminal, or currently incurable stages.

24.02.2022. My father called me at 6am. It was the day when everyone got a phone call. A full-scale invasion and a real bloody war began. I did not hear sirens yet or see missiles. He told me he would take my mother to a hospital and then would come to take me - I should be ready with my rucksack and all documents I had - that was the only thing I took with me. This is a story of my family, but it is also a story of all Ukrainians faced a terrible war.

Early March 2022. My parents and I crossed the German border, fleeing from war and becoming refugees (or as we were called, temporarily displaced persons), trying to save my mother’s life as she needed urgent medical care for cancer. Fleeing from war is my family's story, but it is also a story of millions of Ukrainians living now in different parts of the world.

13.05.2022. My sister called me. There was a raid, tank fire, and mortar shelling. Oleh and three others closed their eyes forever. My cousin’s husband went to the front as a volunteer to protect his motherland and his family. After only a few days at the zero line, he was killed. My cousin lost her husband, and two nieces were left without a father. This story is not only the story of my family - it is a universal story of the Ukrainian people, a story of resistance and loss.

31.01.2025. My mother died in Germany after almost six years of fighting for her life because of cancer. German doctors did everything they could to prolong her life, and they did. Her passion for life amazed them; they could not hide their astonishment: with such a diagnosis and such widespread metastases, her life should have ended much earlier. Yet, against all medical expectations, she lived longer - and, more importantly, she lived happily. This is a story of my mother, but this is also a story of thousands of Ukrainians with terminal cancer fighting for their life abroad did it till the last breath with dignity and love.

This is not a conflict. This is not a special operation. This is a full-scale invasion. This is war. This is terror. This is genocide. This war did not begin in 2022, nor in 2014; this is a continuous war with different faces and masks going through generation after generation, eradicating Ukrainians and cleansing our identity.

Thanks to those who support Ukraine and help us to withstand this terror. Thanks to those who fight on the front lines and to those who are now in eternity. We are alive only because of these unbreakable and courageous heroes.

I am who I am. Yuliia Berhe is only my name, but being a Ukrainian is my identity, my powerful roots, and my DNA of being strong, resilient, courageous, and creative.