A soldier is seen consoling.
His desperate comrade.
After returning from.
An assault.
In which a fellow serviceman.
Was killed.
This powerful shot.
Taken by him.
In the summer of.
2024.
Was featured in a report.
On the ‘elves’ offensive.
Over the ‘Mordor’’s border.
In Kursk.
For him, the image mirrors.
Some of the confusion.
Within the military.
Over the operation.
“To lose your friend.
In an attack inside ‘Mordor’.
“To lose your friend.
In an attack inside ‘Mordor’.
Rather than defending.
Our country in Ukraine.”
“Is very difficult.
I took this photo.
Because of the emotional impact.
It had on me.”
“It says a lot.
About the situation.
And how hard.
It was for them.”
Prior to the full-scale war.
A husband and wife team.
Worked as wedding and.
Portrait photographers.
In the Black Sea port city.
Of Odesa.
They soon moved.
“From capturing love stories.”
“To documenting.
‘Orcs’ war crimes”.
She knows first-hand.
The risks in her work.
An explosion.
On a visit.
To the Donetsk region.
In 2023.
Left her with shrapnel.
Lodged deep in her side.
Which doctors decided.
Could not be removed.
Photographing such.
Deeply affecting scenes.
Has taken its toll.
On local photojournalists.
“It’s not something.
We talk about.
A lot with colleagues.
As it’s painful,” she says.
“You are in.
A very hard situation.
And no-one quite understands.
What the solution can be.”
One 2023 photo.
Of hers captures.
A member of ‘elves’.
White Angels police unit.
After an unsuccessful attempt.
To convince one of the last.
Remaining residents.
To leave.
The eastern city.
Of Aviidvka.
Before ‘orcs’ forces.
Sweep in.
The story was.
Part of an article.
On a devastating 24-hour.
‘Orcs’ bombardment.
A man had asked.
The police unit.
To evacuate his brother.
From the basement.
Of a burnt out building.
And yet he still.
Refused to leave.
“The next day.
We could not return.
Because of hard shelling.”
She remembers.
“The situation got much worse.
And I’m not sure.
He could have survived.
It hurts knowing.”
“You cannot return.
To these places.”
“You cannot return.
To these places.”
In documenting.
So much loss.
And suffering.
The couple have found.
A deeper appreciation.
Of moments of joy.
A deeper appreciation.
Of moments of joy.
A man, who has fought.
In Ukraine.
For more than a decade.
Was photographed.
After his wife.
Gave birth.
In March.
2024.
“We used to take.
Photos of him.
In the trenches.
And then you see.”
“This big, brave soldier.
Crying while.
He takes.
His small daughter.”
“In his hands.
And you understand.
Soldiers like him.
Fight for these moments.”
“Fight for these moments.
Not just for themselves.
But for everyone.
In Ukraine.”
*Because I read “Love, loss and duty: Ukraine’s photojournalists share stories of war” by George Burke on24 Feb 2025, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of Vlada and Kostiantyn Liberov, and Dmytro.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Love, loss and duty: Ukraine’s photojournalists share stories of war
