It’s hard to look at a happy family photo when you know that moment is already gone, and all that’s left now is pain. Especially when you recognize the faces.
This is 65-year-old Viktor Yerko with his daughter Hanna and his grandson.
Yesterday, Viktor died during a russian attack while sheltering in an underground passage. He always went there to shelter. An explosion went off, and his heart stopped.
I didn’t know Viktor personally. But I knew Hanna. We used to cross paths through work, although I hadn’t seen her in a long time.
When I saw this photo on social media yesterday, it fucking broke me. I didn’t have the courage to write about it...
Hanna is a wonderful person. I’m sure that a man who raised someone like Hanna must have been a wonderful father himself.
Hanna gave these photos to the media to show that behind every death there is a name, a face, a family, and someone’s personal grief.
War is not just about good news of liberation or long-range strikes. First and foremost, it is about grief, loss, and names.
Tens of thousands of lives have already been shattered. Millions of people live with a target on their backs.
Enough pretending that somehow everything will work itself out.
Ukrainians are bleeding because of russian terror. Daily pain and loss are becoming normal.
But this is fucking not normal.
💔 A 65-year-old man came to a Kyiv underground passage with a chair to shelter from russia’s attack.
Minutes later, he collapsed and died.
His phone still showed the map of incoming missiles and drones.
He was watching death approach. It reached him.
We don’t hate russia enough.