In February, a Ukrainian girl was traveling with her family when Russian soldiers opened fire at her vehicle. The constant firing that killed her family did not compel her to escape, but only helped her survival instinct kick in. 

The 13-year-old, named Dasha, was caught in the middle of a bloodbath when she decided to play dead so she wouldn’t meet the same fate as her family members. 

“Thirteen-year-old Dasha pretended to be dead so that soldiers of the Russian Federation would not execute her,” read a statement by Kyiv Oblast Police earlier this week, according to a report by Newsweek.

“In late February, a column of Russian troops entered Katyuzhanka. The girl and her family tried to drive home, but the occupiers opened fire on the car. The father and his wife died on the spot; the car caught fire,” the statement read. 

“Dasha tried to escape, but the occupiers opened fire automatically. The child was seriously injured. Bleeding, the girl literally crawled out from under the bullets and miraculously survived,” the police said.

Andriy Nebitov, the chief of Kyiv Oblast Police, said that Dasha was traveling back home with her parents and grandfather in a Hyundai Sonata when the family came across a Russian army convoy. 

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As the soldiers fired at the vehicle, Dasha’s father and stepmother died, but a wounded Dasha sprinted to hide behind a truck. When Russian soldiers approached her, Dasha was on the ground, which led them to believe that she had died. Soon after, the soldiers left the area and the girl alone, who had two bullets in her arm and thigh.

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“When the bullets hit me, I did not immediately feel pain, I was numb. When I was lying under the boards, I realized that no one would help me, and I crawled under the fence,” Dasha told a Ukrainian news outlet.

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“Dad was buried with Inna at the local cemetery,” she added. 

Dasha is one of the thousands of civilians who have been victims of war crimes committed by the Russian forces. Despite the numerous tragedies, the people of Ukraine continue to put up a strong fight against Russia, with spirit, courage, and the hope for a better tomorrow in their hearts.