(CNN)Diana Savenok smiles when she recalls what life was like in Ukraine before Russia's invasion just over a year ago.
The mother of two girls -- Sofia and Lily -- Savenok lived peacefully in Irpin, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, in an apartment block with 40 other families.
This was a tight-knit community and the children played together in a local forest. Savenok remembers feeling free and loved spending time visiting her favorite "beautiful" park.
After the invasion February 24, 2022, that park was never the same again.
"After the war [began], we saw dead people in this park," Savenok told CNN Sport.
With the fighting creeping toward the family's doorstep, Savenok's husband left to fight for the National Guard.
"Our life was in danger and we had to do everything to save our lives and the lives of our children," said Savenok.
"We stayed in Irpin for 10 days and every day we felt unsafe. It was very scary for the children," added Savenok, who fled with her two daughters to her parents' house further away from Kyiv.
That decision probably saved their lives.
The next day, Savenok says a shell struck the fourth floor of the apartment block and their family home, on the fifth floor, was all but destroyed in the subsequent fire.
Savenok says she has learned to "cope" with anything since the war.
"At first, I was grateful that we managed to evacuate the children. This was the main feeling at the time," said Savenok.
"The problem was that we didn't know for a long time what exactly had happened to our home. We received a message saying that the building was on fire.
"At the time, we were worried about the people more than the apartments because there were people left behind.
"It was only after the liberation of Irpin that we found out our apartment had been completely destroyed."
Irpin was liberated at the end of March 2022 but lay in ruins after heavy bombardment from Russian forces.
Oleksandr Usyk's donation
Living with her parents and sister, Savenok was conscious that cramming six people in one house wasn't a long-term option.
It's why, Savenok says, she cried tears of joy after hearing about a new project to rebuild her family home.
Earlier this year, UNITED 24 -- an organization set up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the aim of raising funds for Ukraine -- announced it was launching a fundraising effort to rebuild apartment blocks in the Kyiv region.
The initiative was designed to help 4,237 Ukrainians return to their homes.
World boxing champion and UNITED24 ambassador Oleksandr Usyk has fronted the campaign and has taken particular notice of Savenok's apartment block in Irpin.
The heavyweight, who has used his global platform to raise awareness of the war since it began, knew a friend, Oleksiy Dzhunkivskyy, who worked in the boxing gym at the bottom of the apartment block.
Usyk told CNN Sport that his friend, who taught children how to box, was killed by Russian forces as he tried to defend the studio and that his own family home is not far from where the apartment block is located.
"I am motivated by the idea that I must help my nation, my people," Usyk told CNN Sport. "If I have the abilities, if I have strength to