ENG / In the summer of 2024, as the war in Ukraine intensifies in the East on the direction of Pokrovsk (Donetsk region), Ukrainian soldiers mobilised to fight the Russian Federation since more than two years, find brief moments of rest with their loved ones. These reunions take place in Kyiv, in the Carpathian mountains, or close to the frontline in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, just 25 kilometres from the battle. Despite the raging war, these moments of temporary intimacy, maximum one week, offer a precious time to the combatants and their partners. For many soldiers, those times of shared hap- piness with loved ones are what keep them going, fighting not just for their country, but for a future where love can flourish without the constant threat of war. However, the romantic vision can mask the real challenges facing relationships in a world torn apart by conflict.
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FR / À l’été 2024, alors que la guerre en Ukraine s’intensifie à l’Est en direction de Pokrovsk (région de Donetsk), des soldats ukrainiens mobilisés pour combattre la Fédération de Russie depuis plus de deux ans trouvent de brefs moments de répit auprès de leurs proches. Ces retrouvailles ont lieu à Kyiv, dans les montagnes des Carpates, ou près de la ligne de front à Sloviansk et Kramatorsk, à seulement 25 kilomètres des combats. Malgré la guerre qui fait rage, ces instants d’intimité temporaire — d’une durée maximale d’une semaine — offrent un temps précieux aux combattants et à leurs partenaires. Pour de nombreux soldats, ces moments de bonheur partagé sont ce qui leur permet de tenir, de se battre non seulement pour leur pays, mais pour un avenir où l’amour pourra s’épanouir sans la menace constante de la guerre. Cependant, cette vision romantique peut masquer les véritables défis auxquels sont confrontées les relations dans un monde déchiré par les conflits.
Ce travail a été produit avec le soutien de N-ost (Network for Border Crossing Journalism», n-ost.org)
A project in collaboration with Alex Babenko
Assistant : Anna Donetss
https://www.letemps.ch/en-images/en-images-en-ukraine-l-amour-en-temps-de-guerre
Before the war, Masha (Kharkiv, 25) and Illia (Luhansk, 31) were respectively an IT engineer and sound designer. They made contact for the first time at the very beginning of the russian invasion of Ukraine. Illia was fighting in the Kharkiv region (then partly controlled by the Russians) and Masha was volunteering to buy and deliver military equipment to the soldiers. In accordance with the requirements of the procedure, Masha was supposed to obtain papers from him, a military order, to be able to obtain and deliver a Mavic 3 drone battery and then give it to Illia. He never did out of mistrust for this unknown woman. Masha didn’t follow up, fearing that she was dealing with a spy in the pay of the Russians.
A few months later, in July 2022, she received a text message from an unknown number. She hadn’t regis- tered illia’s number. On a visit to Kharkiv, the message reminded her of their exchanges few months ago. She agreed to meet the stranger. The relationship was born. No more talk of the battery. They get married in May 2024 in Kharkiv, only the two of us.
Christmas tree revisited with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
Illia is fighting for Special Forces of Ukraine so we can’t see his face. He has been letting his braid grow since 2014. He won’t cut it until his home region of Lugansk will be liberated from Russian occu- pation. Kyiv (Ukraine), July 24th 2024.
As sound designer, Illia is very sensitive to sounds, not the sounds he hears every day from his trench, the missiles, the artillery... The sound he dreads most today during his leave is that of the Kharkiv tram, its creaking and its abrupt changes of points at the crossroads in the city centre.
Kyiv, July 2024
Nataly and Oleksandr were born in Kyiv, they met 15 years ago still being teenagers, and married 10 years ago.They studied together in Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema and Television. Worked together in a theater (Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Drama Theater, we shot there). Nataly is playing in another theatre right now and Oleksandr is still an actor of Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Drama Theater.
Now, Oleksandr is a junior sergeant and the FPV drones division commander in the 79th brigade of Assault troops. He has been working in the Donetsk region for 2 years already. After receiving a shrapnel wound in left arm from an FPV drone he began to be released to Kyiv more often. “My comrade lay down on me and that’s why all of the main shrapnels hit him, he saved me but he died unfortunately”
Nataly is a volunteer now who goes to the east every month and when possible she’s meeting with Olek- sandr there at least for one day. Otherwise, they’re meeting in Kyiv when he has a vacation or an assign- ment here. Nataly said they have very strong relationships. They have a lot in common and that’s why it’s always interesting for them with each other.
After receiving a shrapnel wound in left arm from an FPV drone Oleksandr began to be released to Kyiv more often. “My comrade lay down on me and that’s why all of the main shrapnels hit him, he saved me but he died unfortunately”.
Dnipro, July 2024
Maksim (23) is just back from the front and they’re meeting in Dnipro for a few days.Yana (23) is from the Rivne region and is studying cultural studies (bachelor), Maksim is drone pilot for Ukrainian Army. They met just during summer 2021 at the age of 18 (her) and 19 (him) years old. Then they start studying in the same campus in Lviv just before the beginning of the full-scale war, from September 2021 until February 2022.
Yana : It all start in the early spring of 2022. Maksim was fighting in Chernihiv in March 2022, few kilometers away from Russian and Belarussian borders. We were didn’t see each other for almost 10 months but we wrote to each other, mostly poems. We noticed afterwards that when the war begun, we were thinking to each other simultaneously without saying it to each other... as the bombardments reached Chernihiv.
The poems were digital at that time, but I also gave him a collection of poems, a print version about our relationship. I made two copies. Maksim took it until he realized it was too valuable. He brought it back to me when he was preparing the counter-offensive in the Zaporizhya region. It’s our first big relationship. We get married in April 2023.
Sloviansk, July 2024
Max (23) is from Kryvyï Rih and Darina (24) is from Turiisk in western Ukraine (Volhynie region). Many soldiers from this region died in this war, at least a year ago, the statistics were shocking, said Darina. We met before the war, it was in 2021. We became friends while we were sharing two different flats in the same building (where?). 6 or 7 people sharing the same apartment is very common among young people in Ukraine.
Time is not on our side anymore. Before the war we were friends with Max, we didn’t want to get involved, we both agreed that it was a bad idea in that time. But when the war started everything went very fast, he was in Kyiv, conscripted in territorial defense then quickly involved on his first battalion. Four young guys, roommates during civil life, were becoming fighters, joining the same battalion. Max, Olasam, (2 more?) They fought in Irpin and Butcha. From March to June 2022, we didn’t have much time to write to each other, no networks, no opportunities, we were far away...
I came back to Ukraine around June 2022, he was mobilized in Severodonetsk, we were finally able to get something going, and we start writing to each other. He lost one of his closest friend in Severo- donetsk afterwards, at the beginning of July 2022, Max was with him in his last moments.
He saw him die.That’s where it all began between us.
He saw him die.That’s where it all began between us.
Carpathian Mountains, July 2024
Ira and Hlib met in 2018 at university. she studies history, he was studying sociology. Ira : «He spokes Russian when we met, I was also russified when we met. We started speaking Ukrainian within three months of our relationship. Our relationship started in 2020 during covid and we separated often, I can say that our relationship was really improved before the war. We get separated 5 times before getting together for good 4 years ago. In October 2021 we got back together and 1 month before the war we al- most left each other, we were in Lviv when the war started and we didn’t see each other for 8 months, until New Year’s Eve 2022. Hlib doesn’t talk about the future, it makes him anxious, so I avoid the subject, that’s fine with me. We live in the present.
Hlib is combat-medic.If you ask his friends, he’s really the last person we would have thought of in terms of military involvement. We write every day when there’s internet. But since he moved from Donetsk to Zaporija, it’s more complicated to communicate. Surprisingly, war makes our relationship stronger, It strengthens it. You help each other as strong as u can. Our relationship isn’t smooth but I try to enjoy every moment.
Hlib is different now, He’s mature, He wants to be a warrior, I already see him as a warrior. Hlib has changed his values, he doesn’t talk about his feelings and luckily, we knew each other before the war. As a partner and in the context of war, it’s up to you to adapt and understand that your man is changing. It’s really hard.
Sloviansk, July 2024
Anton (21) is from Vinnitzia and Valerya (24) is from Luhansk, she fled with her family to Kyiv in 2014 when war broke out. Valerya : " War brings people together as quickly as it can tear them apart. In our story, it brought us closer. I realized that a relationship with a man on the front lines isn’t a romantic movie tale. It’s hard; you have to be prepared for tragedy, obstacles, and certain changes in your partner."
