Nikita"s ordeal began in early March when the Russian army rolled into Andriivka, a small village west of Kyiv. Nikita, a lab assistant at a Kyiv hospital, was hiding in a cold, damp cellar under the garden with his father Sasha, their wives, and Nikita"s five-year-old son. Sasha was Nikita"s stepfather but the distinction had long faded. They called each other father and son.