TUESDAY June 20, 2022: 'UKRAINE MOURNS GOLDEN GENERATION' by all time Pulitzer Prize (4 times) winning, ZUMA Press photo-journalist CAROL GUZY. The death of Roman Ratushnyi, 24, a prominent environmental campaigner who died while fighting the Russians, has come to symbolize the war's heavy toll on society. There are funerals every day in Kyiv, but this one felt particularly poignant. Hundreds of friends and fellow activists, clad in Ukrainian flags, gathered on Saturday to pay tribute to Roman Ratushnyi, a prominent political and environmental campaigner who was recently killed fighting near Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv. Thousands of young Ukrainians volunteered to join the army and its territorial defense forces when Russia launched its invasion on 24 February. And while the country has been successful in pushing back Russian forces, it is now suffering some of its worst losses since the start of the war. Between 100 and 200 Ukrainians are believed to be dying every day as the fighting turns into a prolonged war of attrition with no end in sight. Welcome to 'UKRAINE MOURNS GOLDEN GENERATION'
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #841: TUESDAY June 20, 2022: 'UKRAINE MOURNS GOLDEN GENERATION' by all time Pulitzer Prize (4 times winning, ZUMA Press photo-journalist CAROL GUZY. The death of Roman Ratushnyi, 24, a prominent environmental campaigner who died while fighting the Russians, has come to symbolize the war's heavy toll on society. There are funerals every day in Kyiv, but this one felt particularly poignant. Hundreds of friends and fellow activists, clad in Ukrainian flags, gathered on Saturday to pay tribute to Roman Ratushnyi, a prominent political and environmental campaigner who was recently killed fighting near Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv. Thousands of young Ukrainians volunteered to join the army and its territorial defense forces when Russia launched its invasion on 24 February. And while the country has been successful in pushing back Russian forces, it is now suffering some of its worst losses since the start of the war. Between 100 and 200 Ukrainians are believed to be dying every day as the fighting turns into a prolonged war of attrition with no end in sight. Welcome to 'UKRAINE MOURNS GOLDEN GENERATION'
A black crow flys past a tombstone damaged by bullets during the war in Bucha. Funerals for victims of the Russian invasion continue in Bucha, recently liberated from Russian forces in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'I don't want to live with hate in my heart,' said SVETLANA KOSTYANTYN about the Russian soldiers that killed her husband as police exhume his body from a makeshift grave in their backyard in Irpin,. Kostrya Kostyantyn, father of her child, love of her life. Taken away in an instant by a Russian sniper's bullet as he was walking through a park to deliver food to an elderly neighbor. When his brother rushed to help, he too was gunned down. They buried Kostya behind their house.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press
'Why are we alive and my son is dead?' wept Nadia Yakivna, 80 years old as she views her home reduced to rubble in Irpin. She and her daughter, Svetlana Magyrovks, 58 returned the day after her son's funeral to salvage items from the home and clean up. Nadia loved flowers so very much, and she now looks at tulips blooming amid the debris in her once pristine garden.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Aerial view shows bodes being exhumed and identified at a mass grave site in Bucha during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Funerals for victims of the Russian invasion continue in Bucha, recently liberated from Russian forces in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'I don't want to live with hate in my heart,' said SVETLANA KOSTYANTYN about the Russian soldiers that killed her husband as police exhume his body from a makeshift grave in their backyard in Irpin,. Kostrya Kostyantyn, father of her child, love of her life. Taken away in an instant by a Russian sniper's bullet as he was walking through a park to deliver food to an elderly neighbor.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press
Shrapnel in the shape of a heart marks a farm vehicle in liberated town Malaya Rohon on the outskirts of Kharkiv. The farm lost animals during the occupation and shelling and the town is slowly coming back to life as Ukrainian forces push back Russians that had been bombarding Kharkiv and surrounding villages.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
A priest holds a bible and cross in prayer as bodies are exhumed and identified by loved ones in Bucha. Funerals for victims of the Russian invasion continue in Bucha, recently liberated from Russian forces in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
With eyes filled with tears and draped in Ukraine flags, loved ones attend a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion, at Independence Square where an air raid siren sounded during the service in Kyiv.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Holding burning flares aloft, people gather and attend a funeral ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion, at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv. Ratushnyi has become a symbol of revolution and mourners came wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, leaving flowers and sorrow at his gravesite.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Loved ones attend a funeral ceremony for activist and soldier R. Ratushnyi , 24, who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion, at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv. Ratushnyi has become a symbol of revolution and mourners came wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, leaving flowers and sorrow at his gravesite.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Loved ones attend a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion. Ratushnyi has become a symbol of revolution and mourners came wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, leaving flowers and sorrow at his casket.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Grieving loved ones attend a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion, at Independence Square where an air raid siren sounded during the service in Kyiv.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Wrapped in a Ukraine flag, family members comfort each other during a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Loved ones hold portraits while attending a funeral ceremony at Baikove Cemetery for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
A soldier pays his respect at the casket as loved ones attend a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
The Irpin Bridge has become a memorial site for those who died during the Russian invasion across the country. People come to write names of friends they lost as they pray and rejoice their own survival during fierce shelling.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Wearing a yellow dress a mourner pays respects at the casket during a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion. Held at Independence Square in Kyiv, an air raid siren sounded during the service. He has become a symbol of revolution in the war torn country.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Grieving loved ones attend a funeral ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion, at Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv. He has become a symbol of revolution and mourners came wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, leaving flowers and sorrow at his gravesite.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Loved ones attend a 'Farewell on the Maidan' memorial ceremony for activist and soldier Roman Ratushnyi who was killed while fighting in the Kharkiv region during the Russian invasion. He has become a symbol of revolution and mourners came wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, leaving flowers and sorrow at his casket.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VADIM IVANOVICH assists war crimes investigators as his wife's body is exhumed from a makeshift grave at their home in Mala Rohan. She was killed by shelling during the Russian invasion and occupation of their town. They would have soon celebrated 45 years of marriage.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
OLGA KOTENKO and husband Volodymyr, both 67, watch the body of their son who was killed in the Russian invasion, exhumed from a makeshift grave in the backyard of their home by war crimes investigators for a funeral to be held in Mala Rohan. 'Now, I still must wait to bury my son? He should bury me, not me him.' They went with investigators to the scorched car where their boy perished and in a heartbreaking scene, Olga climbed inside combing through the ashes as police recovered bone fragments from the vehicle.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA
'Lord, I want to die too. I don't have the strength to live with this torment,' wept OLGA KOTENKO as she and husband Volodymyr, both 67, watch the body of their son who was killed in the Russian invasion, exhumed from a makeshift grave in the backyard of their home by war crimes investigators for a funeral to be held in Mala Rohan.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA
'I have no tears left,' said NATALIA BOGDANOV who was finally able to bury her husband Eugene Bogdanov in Bucha. He was killed during the Russian invasion and the family made a heart wrenching effort to identify his body at the cemetery a few days before when two coffins arrived for burial that had been misidentified and were not him. She had already spent two months opening body bags of unidentified persons looking for him.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'I have no tears left,' said NATALIA BOGDANOV who was finally able to bury her husband Eugene Bogdanov in Bucha. He was killed during the Russian invasion and the family made a heart wrenching effort to identify his body. His body was exhumed from a makeshift grave weeks ago and they had hoped to give him a proper funeral but had to resume the search at morgues for his remains when they realized neither of the decomposing corpses were their loved one. She had already spent two months opening body bags of unidentified persons looking for him.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Residents ride bikes and view trench positions of Russian forces that are littered with munitions and other remnants of war while they used the site for artillery shelling during occupation of Malaya Rohan. The towns on the outskirts of Kharkiv have been liberated as Ukrainian forces push Russians back to the border.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Crosses and flowers on the rail, the Irpin Bridge has become a memorial site for those who died during the Russian invasion of the country. Walkways used in emergency evacuations are lined with crosses as the sun sets on a scene that was once terror, death and ultimately survival for civilians from the besieged town.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
The Irpin Bridge has become a memorial site for those who died during the Russian invasion across the country as people visit in Irpin. Walkways used in emergency evacuations are lined with crosses as the sun sets on a scene that was once terror, death and ultimately survival for civilians from the besieged town.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VERA BOGOLIY and her husband Alexander came to write names of friends they lost as they pray and rejoice their own survival during fierce shelling. Alexander escaped by this bridge and they were present when a journalist was killed. The Irpin Bridge has become a memorial site for those who died during the Russian invasion across the country as people visit in Irpin.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Vera and Alexander Bogoliy came to write names of friends they lost as they pray and rejoice their own survival during fierce shelling. With a mobile phone they show photos of their friend that died. Walkways used in emergency evacuations are lined with crosses as the sun sets on a scene that was once terror, death and ultimately survival for civilians from the besieged town. The Irpin Bridge has become a memorial site for those who died during the Russian invasion across the country as people visit in Irpin.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
War and innocence collide as people view an exhibit in Michailovskyi Square in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sand bags cover and protect a statue in the historic square, message states 'World Help Us.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'I don't want to live with hate in my heart,' said Svetlana Kostyantyn about the Russian soldiers that killed her husband as police exhume his body from a makeshift grave in their backyard in Irpin. Kostrya Kostyantyn, father of her child, love of her life. Taken away in an instant by a Russian sniper's bullet as he was walking through a park to deliver food to an elderly neighbor.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press
Resting on her rifle, blue haired HANNA VOLKOVA, is a LGBTQ soldier with Ukraine Territorial Defense is part of an honor guard at a funeral for a fallen soldier in Irpin. She didn't know him but wanted to offer her respect. Irpin was one of the towns recently liberated from invading Russian troops in the suburbs of Kyiv where atrocities have been reported.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
