"When the Russian military came here, I was walking in the yard. And then I heard the buzzing of equipment, explosions. And when everyone started running, getting dressed, I went out on the porch and started singing the national anthem of Ukraine. My mother barely dragged me into the cellar. Until didn't finish, I didn't want to go in." 

Ten-year-old Nazar Kebkal knows bullet calibers and types of weapons no worse than a multiplication table: "This is a Russian-made RPG-23 in 1982. These were used in the war in Afghanistan. It was given to me by the military, and in general, this RPG fell from a Russian armored personnel carrier. They knocked it out APC and gave me this trumpet as a souvenir so that I remember that they liberated our village."

The boy lives in the village of Nova Basan, in the Chernihiv region.

Local residents were under occupation for more than a month.

"There were a lot of Russians in our village, more than 2,000, and there was also a lot of equipment," recalls Nazar's mother Zhanna Strykun, who found herself in the occupation with her two children.

- We were scared.

We just didn't know whether we would survive or not." 

The Russians placed a KamAZ with ammunition just under Nazar's house - to use civilians as human shields against the Armed Forces.

"Somewhere on March 5-6, the occupiers parked the car here," the boy says.

- I looked out the window, I saw Russian soldiers coming out in a line, and a sniper was coming from behind.

And he saw me immediately.

Then our grandfather came and said: "A Russian soldier came and said that if she looks out one more time, her head will remain in the window."

"Our house was damaged, several RPG shocks came to us.

We were all in the house at that time.

We waited for everything to become quiet, and what were we doing - let's run to the neighbors," Zhanna recalls. 

Because of the war, 10-year-old Naraz not only became an expert in matters of modern weapons.

The boy had to witness how the occupiers mocked the civilians: "They heard a knock on the gate. They put us next to the wall in the yard. They called my uncle a Bander because he spoke Ukrainian, they wanted to shoot him. They ordered us to raise hands up, and they forced him to run - they said, let's play 100-meter dash. He barely said goodbye. They even offered me to shoot with a machine gun. And I didn't want to shoot with a Russian machine gun. I was really waiting for our guys from the ZSU and told my mother: "Don't worry, because soon we will be released."

Unfortunately, millions of young Ukrainians had a traumatic experience.

On the eve of the Russian invasion, Kiyanka Tetyana Orel came to her parents in the village of Stary Bykiv in Chernihiv region with her three children.

And within a few days, the settlement was occupied by the Russian army.

"The youngest son, who is three years old, when the rockets were fired, said: "mom, bang, bang" and fell under the sofa.

It got so stuck in there that I couldn't pull it out.

I told the little one: "These are fireworks, don't worry, everything is fine.

Do you remember New Year's fireworks?

Don't be afraid, you don't have to hide like that" - and she pulled him out like that." 

Tatiana and her children have been safe for the past six months.

However, during this time, the woman never dared to talk to her children about their traumatic experience.

Should we talk to children about the war?

But how to do this so as not to harm the child's psyche?

"There is such a direction as fairy tale therapy.

He works very well with children.

Through certain metaphors and fairy tales, you can convey information to the child about what wartime is, what war is.

That there are good people - these are our people who protect us, and there are heathens.

Such a child will then develop an understanding of what is happening around, but without such specifics that could traumatize her, advises Spartak Subbota, a medical psychologist and psychotherapist.

- If the child is already older, starting from the age of 12 it is possible to fully talk with the child?

as with an adult, to explain certain things that she needs to know.

Avoiding things that might hurt her mentally, or make her very angry if done wrong."

Tatyana Orel, who came under occupation in Chernihiv Oblast, was in such a state of stress and fear that she simply could not find the words to explain the horrors of war to her children: "We were sitting in the cellar. My daughter kept reciting prayers, many, many times. The youngest immediately fell asleep - I guess it was a protective reaction. And the older one kept asking me: "Mom, when are you going home?", "Mom, who's shooting?", "Mom...". I didn't know how to explain to them, so as not to injure them. I only said that ours will now come in, dismiss, and we will go home..." 

"Mom kept telling us that tomorrow we would be released and we would be home. And this "tomorrow" never came. And I stopped believing that it was true, that we would be released tomorrow," says Tatyana's daughter Sofiyka.

When talking to children, you should not promise things that do not depend on you.

However, even under the most difficult circumstances, it is important to maintain optimism and faith in victory in children.

"When we communicate with a child, we need to focus on a positive future," notes Spartak Subbota.

- As long as we survive the hard times, everything will be fine with us.

Because the child's nervous system is very vulnerable.

If she hears something negative, she starts to worry more.

And then she is not able to normally control her emotional reactions." 

After the de-occupation of Chernihiv Oblast, Nazar and his friends set up an improvised block post.

Here, young defenders collect money for the Ukrainian army.

"We took the signs, the can, the flag and left.

On the first day, we collected 4,500 hryvnias and sent it to the "Brotherhood" battalion - it freed us from the occupiers, - says the boy.

- In total, we collected 32 thousand hryvnias with the boys.

At the Armed Forces of Ukraine". 

"Children reflect the outside world, and they cannot be forbidden to do so," says psychotherapist Oleg Chaban.

- Children intuitively understand that they start to express their emotions.

This is absolutely normal.

And there is no need to ban it." 

"When I grow up, I want to become a soldier so that the cursed foot of our enemy does not set foot on my land," Nazar is convinced.

- I will protect our country from the invaders.

We are strong and will always be free."