Mariupol teen coped by using pen and notepad: "I drew my fears"

An undated handout picture shows comic illustrations drawn by Karina Ivashchenko, 14, as a way to channel her fear and overcome war trauma, amid Russia's invasion of the country, in Mariupol, Ukraine obtained by Reuters on March 31, 2022. The story reads: "It seems to me that I have calmed down. I like drawing. We do not live but do survive. There is no water, no gas, no heat, no electricity. I want to live normal life." Oleg Ivashchenko/Handout via REUTERS

When a missile hit one of the residential buildings in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, in early March, 14-year-old Karina Ivashchenko took out a pen and a notebook and started to draw.

Living under bombardment after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Ivashchenko said that drawing and writing not only helped distract her from the war outside but soon became her coping mechanism.