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“It is important that my husband’s work does not die. Sometimes I joke that [fate] took away my personal life so that I could have more time for social causes,” Karina says.

“Sometimes you think you’ve just come to the military position to take some portraits, and then you find out that some of them are no longer alive. You realize that this is a very important shoot for their families, their loved ones, and for you because you captured them alive and smiling,” Vlada and Kostia Liberov share.

“My mother told me to go to Kostiantynivka (a town 50 kilometers from Donetsk – ed.) to my father and stepmother. It was supposed to be for a week. I packed a backpack, put two T-shirts and shorts. And in the end, I never returned home,” Lisa says.

“My husband was a decent and honest man, a wonderful family person, and a loving father. Despite having no military experience, he didn’t hesitate to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He knew what he was fighting for. He was a loyal son of his homeland,” said Olha, the wife of killed Ukrainian defender Yevhen.

“Laughter is the body’s response to stress. We live under the most stressful conditions. Yes, we do. We say, ‘It’s all right. It’s no big deal. The missile hit two blocks away. It’s fine’. But in reality, it’s not okay,” Kyrylo shares.

“The fact that she is smiling, being happy, and laughing is a protective reaction because it is tough when you cannot go where you want to. You have to take a prosthesis or crouch on one leg, get crutches or a wheelchair,” says Sasha’s mother Maria.