The quiet of a Kyiv cemetery is broken by a trumpet salute, then a burst of rifle fire. Soldiers stretch a Ukrainian flag over a shiny wooden coffin and stand silently alongside in the sparkling white snow. A woman cries, her face crumpling. Natalia is burying her husband for the second time.
Vitaly was killed three years ago fighting in the eastern Donbas and his first grave was in their home town of Slovyansk. But Russian forces have advanced since then and the area is increasingly under attack. So Natalia had her husband's grave exhumed and Vitaly's remains moved hundreds of miles to Ukraine's capital.
When we buried him in Slovyansk, land was being liberated and we thought the war would soon end, Natalia explains, after the reburial ceremony conducted with military honours. But the frontline is constantly moving closer and I was scared Vitaly might end up under occupation.
Vitaly was a ceramics artist who volunteered to defend his country in the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. He didn't want to, but he had to do it. He was a patriot, Natalia explains, through her tears. She was pregnant when her husband was killed and he never got to meet their daughter.
The decision to move Vitaly's body from the land where he was born and fought was extremely painful. It was very hard, emotionally. But it was the right decision, Natalia is sure. It would have been far harder to leave him, to know that he had stayed.
Amid the turmoil, Natalia clings to hope; she watches her daughter, Vitalina, grow, as she plays with photos and videos of her father. She loves him very much even though they never met, she smiles, revealing her plan to soon tell Vitaly that she is pregnant using his preserved sperm, a last link to her husband.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, the challenges facing families like Natalia's grow increasingly complex, with many forced to make unimaginable choices amid continuous threats from Russian forces. Ukraine continues to fight, upholding the determination to safeguard their land and loved ones from further loss.
Vitaly was killed three years ago fighting in the eastern Donbas and his first grave was in their home town of Slovyansk. But Russian forces have advanced since then and the area is increasingly under attack. So Natalia had her husband's grave exhumed and Vitaly's remains moved hundreds of miles to Ukraine's capital.
When we buried him in Slovyansk, land was being liberated and we thought the war would soon end, Natalia explains, after the reburial ceremony conducted with military honours. But the frontline is constantly moving closer and I was scared Vitaly might end up under occupation.
Vitaly was a ceramics artist who volunteered to defend his country in the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. He didn't want to, but he had to do it. He was a patriot, Natalia explains, through her tears. She was pregnant when her husband was killed and he never got to meet their daughter.
The decision to move Vitaly's body from the land where he was born and fought was extremely painful. It was very hard, emotionally. But it was the right decision, Natalia is sure. It would have been far harder to leave him, to know that he had stayed.
Amid the turmoil, Natalia clings to hope; she watches her daughter, Vitalina, grow, as she plays with photos and videos of her father. She loves him very much even though they never met, she smiles, revealing her plan to soon tell Vitaly that she is pregnant using his preserved sperm, a last link to her husband.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, the challenges facing families like Natalia's grow increasingly complex, with many forced to make unimaginable choices amid continuous threats from Russian forces. Ukraine continues to fight, upholding the determination to safeguard their land and loved ones from further loss.
