Portraits of the war in Ukraine: this is how internal refugees live in the fourth year of the Russian invasion

In an old institute converted into a refuge in Dniprothe fourth city of Ukraine, in the central-eastern part of the country, several displaced Ukrainian families learn to live among power outages and cold, surrounded only by the memories of their lives before the large-scale Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian photographer has been with them Julia Kochetovawhich in 2024 was recognized by the World Press Photo for War Is Personal, a work in which he mixed his images with the intimate testimonies of those suffering from the conflict. That same idea, that of conflict told with everyday symbols, is captured in this project for Doctors Without Borders.

Liubov Kuzmenko

“In March 2022, when we left, I remember that it was still cold, with frost outside. The windows in the apartment were broken. I never thought that my toes could hurt so much from the cold,” Liubov Kuzmenko remembers. Has 65 years and is from Severodonetsk, in the region of Luhansk. “Our city was built on sand, so it was clean and tidy. Rain or snow, we never had mud; we just didn’t know what dirty boots were.”

Kuzmenko now shares a room with su gato Kuzma. Both left Severodonetsk, in the Lugansk region. “Back then, when the city was being attacked, I cried a lot because I had nothing to feed him.”

Just twenty minutes before the evacuation bus arrived, Kuzma disappeared. But Liubov knew he couldn’t leave without him. Fortunately, they found him and he now lives happily with his owner at the shelter.

She finds comfort painting pictures with special kits. The canvas has numbers marked on the outline of the painting, each of which corresponds to a specific color that must be used. Liubov He has painted more than 70 paintings this way.

some of them adorn the walls of your room, others the rooms and hallways of their neighbors. “At the end, when you put the last strokes, the painting suddenly comes to life. I love that feeling.”

Liubov shows photos of his parents in his youth, which his sister was able to save and digitize.

After occupying Severodonetsk, Russian soldiers broke down all the doors from the landing of the Liubov apartment building. His apartment remained open for a whole year and was ransacked.

“You know, losing my apartment doesn’t bother me that much. My parents remained under occupationmy father died in 2024 and I couldn’t even bury him.”

Zinaida Babisheva

Zinaida Babisheva is 67 years old and was evacuated from Lyman in March 2022. When she thinks about her home, the first thing she mentions is the people around her: “The neighbors They were all very friendly and friendly. Before, when there was an important party, we would take tables out into the street and celebrate it together.”

Zinaida’s neighbor, with whom she was in contact, told her that during the occupation the Russian soldiers who entered Lyman robbed her house. “I still dream of home,” he says. “We had a garden where everything grew.: Symyrenko apples, plums, cherries, pears and peaches. I invited my friends who lived in apartments to come pick fruit… And there were so many roses! And lilies, marigolds! “We had everything… Now, my daughter grows flowers in pots, but I don’t want anything anymore.”

When she left Lyman, Zinaida took almost nothing with her, as she was sure he would return soon. However, he was left with the rings he wore on his fingers, They are very valuable to her.

“I’ve had one of the rings for 45 years. My mother gave it to me when my daughter turned one. The other was a gift from my late husband on our wedding anniversary, I think it was the fifteenth. Another was a gift from my family when my grandson finished elementary school. And another was a gift from my daughter for my 65th birthday.”

Julia Murashkina

“Even after so many years, I could walk my street with my eyes closeds,” says Yuliia Murashkina (39 years old). She has left her life behind twice due to war. The first time was in 2014, when she and her family left Fashchivkain the region of Luhansk. They moved to More creamybut after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, they had to flee again.

His family occupies two rooms in a shelter in Dnipro. Yuliia and her son, Vanya, 12, live in one room. In the next room are Yuliia’s daughter, Kateryna, 17, and her sons, Sasha, 3, and Damir, 2 months.

When asked what home means to her, Yuliia remembers Fashchivkawhere he grew up. Remember the park, overgrown and wildlike a forest. He remembers the ponds with cold springs at the bottom and the mining hills where they used to sled in winter.

“I understand that the territory He has been busy for more than thirteen years and I doubt I will ever be able to return there, even to visit my parents’ graves. I’m not even sure if the cemetery still exists or if our house still stands. But I still feel like my home is there.”

Kateryna Murashkina

Damir is two months old, has big blue eyes and a very strong voice. In the morning, you can hear her crying from the hallway. Damir has bathed twice in his entire life: the first, immediately after leaving the maternity hospital; the second, on one of the rare days when there was electricity in the shelter.

“Now we use wipes because it’s very cold. The room doesn’t have time to warm up. I’m afraid he’ll catch a cold,” explains his mother, Kateryna Murashkina.

Change your child’s clothes as quickly as possible, because he doesn’t like to be changed. His eldest daughter, Sasha, three years oldsleep nearby. “Damir is teething. He cries constantly and needs to be held,” explains Kateryna. “Sasha is a girl with a strong personality and she also needs to be entertained. I draw and play with her, but I also have to pay attention to my little son. My family, who lives in the next room, helps me a lot: my brother Vanya “He comes to take care of the children and my mother does the laundry and cooks.”