“On 26 February, we were chatting at the police station, and then we heard a loud boom,” recalls Ivan Simoroz.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was two days old and had quickly targeted towns in the Kyiv region as they looked to close in on the capital.
“The ground was shaking, I started calling each of my relatives, my wife, brother, mother, father, grandma – they were all out of reach.
“I realised something bad had happened.”
Six members of Ivan’s family had been killed.