Meeting with the authors and presentation of the book “Living Against All Odds” (UA, EST, RUS)
Event overview
On April 18 at 13:00, Narva Castle will host a meeting with the authors and a presentation of the book “Living Against All Odds” — a sincere and profound account of wartime experience and the strength of human resilience.
The book brings together the stories of 11 Ukrainian women from different professions and regions whose lives were irreversibly changed by the war. Their candid and piercing narratives cover the events of 2014–2022 and reveal personal experiences of war, loss, fear, and inner strength.
Participants of the event will include Natalia Lohozynska — author of her own survival stories — as well as Tatyana Tovstokora and Marina Suprun. They will share their experiences and speak about what helped them endure the hardest moments and continue moving forward.
The book addresses difficult and important topics: life under occupation, the loss of loved ones, imprisonment, and war-related violence, while also speaking about hope, dignity, and human endurance.
Representatives of the Eastern Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives, Volodymyr Shcherbachenko and Nadiia Nesterenko, will also take part in the event.
The event will be held in Ukrainian with interpretation into Estonian and Russian. Admission is free for registered visitors.
We invite everyone who wishes to hear firsthand testimonies, reflect on wartime experiences, and see how much strength and resilience a person can have even in the darkest times.
Ootame kõiki, kes soovivad kuulda päris inimeste lugusid, mõtestada sõjakogemust ning näha, kui palju jõudu ja visadust võib peituda inimeses ka kõige raskematel aegadel. 
About the book
The authors present “Living Against All Odds” — candid stories about wartime experiences and the search for resilience.
In this book, 11 Ukrainian women from different professions and regions share their traumatic experiences of the war. The stories cover events from 2014 to 2022.
The presentation will feature Natalia Lohozynska and Olena Nymanykhina — authors of their own survival stories, having lived through the horrors of war twice: in 2014 and in 2022.
The authors write openly and sincerely about life under Russian occupation, the loss of loved ones, property, and health as a result of the war; about captivity, sexual and gender‑based violence related to the war, and much more. A significant part of their accounts focuses on what helped them endure these turning points and what continues to support them today.
The book is addressed to all Ukrainians, as well as people of other nationalities who are experiencing the difficult realities of war and need examples that inspire strength to continue living and fighting.
We hope that hearing the authors will allow readers to look at what is happening from a new perspective and see how much strength and resilience Ukrainians carry within themselves.
The initiative to create and publish the book comes from the civil society organization “Eastern Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives,” which has been documenting war‑related human rights violations since 2014. The project is funded by the Fund for Bilateral Relations of the European Economic Area and the Norwegian Financial Mechanisms.
