Sofia Ivanova 14, female from Mariupol

My name is Sofia, I’m 14 years old, and I’m from Mariupol, I’m in the 8th grade, my favourite subjects are physical education and English. I have two sisters, the older one and the younger one, the youngest is 4 years old, her name is Vasilisa, she likes to draw and dance, the older one is 19 years old, her name is Margarita, she likes to read books. My parents are military. My mother’s name is Evgenia. My father Sergey died in the war during the hostilities, performing a combat mission at the Azovstal plant.

I have quite a lot of friends from different cities.

In my free time I like to draw on different themes and listen to music.

I’m from Mariupol. Mariupol was very beautiful before the war. You can take a walk in Veselka Park, next to the drama theatre, and the most important thing in Mariupol is the Sea of Azov. But Russia invaded Mariupol and destroyed all this beauty. I want to become an artist in the future.

The most difficult thing in war is to survive the shelling and loss of loved ones you knew and loved.

I want to get into this program to see beautiful places, learn to speak English and distract myself from the war.