Portrait BY MARTIN THAULOW
At the end of March 2022, Sergiy and Natalya were forced to flee from their small village near Kherson. They had waited as long as possible, but by then the area had been occupied by the Russians. Sergiy was interrogated by a drugged soldier, and it seemed like he was on the verge of being shot. They made the decision to flee and later discovered that their house had been taken over by Russian commanders as a command center.
up to 500 hits a day
On the worst days before fleeing, there were up to 500 incomings and shellings, and during the early days of the Russian invasion, there were days when up to 3,000 refugees sought safety there. Apparently, people believed the countryside was safer, which turned out to be incorrect. Sergiy did everything he could to help people, providing water and sharing whatever little food they could do without.
The samll village
Before the war, the village had a population of 750 inhabitants. Currently, around 200 have returned to try and rebuild their lives. However, the frontline is still 40-50 km away. Sergiy and Natalya themselves returned in February 2023. They now spend their entire day working on restoring their house. They have already managed to rebuild the shell and roof on the second floor, which was completely destroyed.
Sergiy
“The future requires hard labour. I want to restore everything here for my children.”.
Sergiy is a farmer who used to employ up to 12 people, cultivated 570 acres of land. However, his business has been destroyed, including his harvester, due to the war. The estimated loss for Sergiy and Natalya so far amounts to €1,000,000. Today, they are struggling to survive but remain determined to rebuild their lives.
Voices of the future
Portraits & stories by Martin Thaulow
Translations Ukrainian Katerina Chalenko
Stories in English Amalie Pi Sørensen
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