What happens in a pen pal relationship.

Minati Divakar is a student at Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia. Three years ago, she was matched with Diana Makarenko, who is 16 and lives in Ukraine.

We ended up not talking about the war nearly as much as we just talked about each other. In a way, it’s a much greater gift. I see Diana as any friend in my life. She’s not like a Ukrainian friend or a pen pal. She’s just my friend.

MINATI DIVAKAR – THOMAS JEFFERSON H.S. – 7NEWS, MARCH 2026

I was so scared. It was terrifying when I heard the explosions and the air bombs.

DIANA MAKARENKO, 16 – MINATI’S PEN PAL FOR THREE YEARS

For Danilo Petrash, 15, from Sokal, the correspondence started after his uncle died. His uncle, Vadym, was a sapper who cleared mines. He worked in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kharkiv, and was killed in service.

There was a boy who thought there was no meaning to life anymore after his uncle died, and then he found meaning in life from a new connection with a pen pal.

CHRIS MEAD – FOUNDER

That was Danilo.