Just over four years ago in May 2022, 10-year-old Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast Sasha Paskal and her mother, Maria, were enjoying some time together in the scenic seaside village of Zatoka in the Odesa region of southwestern Ukraine.
It was a sunny day and they were getting ready to head out to the beach, but within a few short moments, their lives would be changed forever.
Russia had launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three months prior in February 2022, but on that day, there was nothing to alert the pair they were in imminent danger.
The air raid siren in their neighborhood didn’t go off, and they didn’t see or hear anything untoward, before a missile struck the family’s seaside home and had devastating effects, shattering it into nothing more than stones, rebar and concrete slabs.
Despite initially losing consciousness herself as a result of the explosion, Maria still vividly remembered the atrocity when recounting it to the Museum of Civilian Voices.
