At the age of 13, Veronika suddenly found herself in Russia and was forcibly separated from her mother for 14 months — spending both her 13th and 14th birthdays there. At a vocational school and later at a regular school, she was bullied, while the police subjected her to pressure during interrogations and demanded that she “confirm” fabricated testimonies. After returning home, Veronika smiled in photographs, but behind those smiles were interrogations, humiliation, and experiences that left a lasting mark on her childhood.