Ukraine, the photos that remind us every day that the war is not over

When Viktor ran down the street after hearing the bombing, his wife Natalia Kolesnik she was already dead. She had come out of their house Kharkiv, in Ukraine, to bring food to cats, as she used to do every day, paying attention to the thunder of the shots that never stopped in her city. She had found her habits in the daily routine of a life in war, Natalia. She had learned to live with risk. Viktor hugged her while she was still on the ground, touched her, stroking her and shaking his head, shocked by her pain. Beside him was her son. It was he who asked him to stop, get up and let the rescuers take her body away. Not far away was the Ukrainian photojournalist Evgeny Maloletkawho since February 24 has been reporting on the war that is destroying his country.

Two more were found next to Natalia’s lifeless body. One impossible to identify. The second had a blue slipper on one foot and a hem of yellow dress that came out of the bag in which it had been stored. Right next to it, a basket with some eaten fruit, some cherries and some apples. Details that tell moments of everyday life that are the same for everyone and that after nearly four months of war remember that the war is never over. And the civilians who die every day are people like us. In every war.

As the Russian army continues its advance into Donetsk, many of the Ukrainian refugees who have fled their country hope to be able to return home soon. Even if there will be a pile of rubble waiting for them. The report reveals it Lives outstanding: profiles and intentions of refugees from Ukraine, presented by the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency). Two-thirds are planning to stay in the current host countries until hostilities cease and the security situation improves.

A question mark that is difficult to answer and which he has returned to in these hours Pope francesco stressing its proximity to Ukraine and calling for the conflict not to become a new forgotten war. Meanwhile, the meeting between Ukraine’s war crimes prosecutor and European judicial authorities starts today in The Hague to coordinate investigations into crimes committed by Russia since the beginning of the conflict. “The simple truth is that, as we speak, children, women and men, young and old, live in terror” he said Karim Khan, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. “They are suffering in Ukraine and in so many different parts of the world. They are mourning what they lost yesterday, they are holding their breath for what they might lose today and what tomorrow may bring. At a time like this, the law cannot be a spectator“.

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