Illustration: #AnnaAndreeva
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Liza is 15 years old, she is an orphan from Popasna (Luhansk Oblast). Long and merciless battles were fought for Popasna throughout the spring of 2022, in the end the settlement was wiped off the face of the earth by Russian troops. In such conditions, Liza had to leave the hot spot. Her godmother put the girl in a car with four friends, and they set off toward Bakhmut. However, on the way out of Popasna, their car was shot at by the occupiers. The driver and another passenger were seriously injured by debris; they began to lose blood. Immediate action was required, and the other adults were unable to drive.
Liza had been taught to drive by her late mother a few years before, so the girl got behind the wheel. There were many mines scattered in a checkered pattern on the road; corpses were lying everywhere. Liza still doesn’t understand how she managed to get around everything. After one of the turns, the car was fired upon again: the girl received two wounds through the leg, lost a finger, and her knee was crushed. However, she continued to drive on despite the intense pain. One of the bullets hit the battery, so the car was stopped. At this stage, Liza and her companions were lucky: Ukrainian military personnel nearby took everyone to the hospital in Bakhmut. From there, the girl was sent on an evacuation train to Lviv.
"I was in a lot of pain, but somehow I drove on. I wouldn't let them [the other passengers] come under fire," Liza now recalls this terrible road, where only thanks to the heroism of the girl they all managed to survive.