In the beginning, she sometimes believed that the war would end soon, says Julia Pogebna, while the van jerks her NGO over the unpaved sand street that connects the two adjacent Oblast mykolaji and Cherson. But after more than three years, she decided to have no more expectations, says the 34-year-old. She tries to still see the positive and beautiful things in everyday life, she says and follows with a view of three pheasants that hide in the bushes next to the street. Then a bleak village pulls past the window again. Often only ruins have remained from the houses.