Story #847: Launched TUESDAY, August 2, 2022: 'Ladies That Stayed', by the all-time photography Pulitzer Prize Winner CAROL GUZY. Carol is ZUMA Press Wire's Star Photojournalist and Story Teller. Reportage about charming, strong-willed elderly babushkas. Women, whom in the face of adversity, they are Ladies That Stayed. Vulnerable targets of random shelling. Yet they can't, or simply won't, leave. They deal with not only the brutal existence of a war zone, but the daily struggles of aging with few available services or medications. Welcome to 'Ladies that Stayed'.
© Special Edition of zReportage.com: Story #847: Launched TUESDAY, August 2, 2022: 'Ladies That Stayed', by the all-time photography Pulitzer Prize Winner CAROL GUZY. Carol is ZUMA Press Wire's Star Photojournalist and Story Teller. Reportage about charming, strong-willed elderly babushkas. Women, whom in the face of adversity, they are Ladies That Stayed. Vulnerable targets of random shelling. Yet they can't, or simply won't, leave. They deal with not only the brutal existence of a war zone, but the daily struggles of aging with few available services or medications. Welcome to 'Ladies that Stayed'.
LADIES THAT STAYED.
© LADIES THAT STAYED.
LADIES THAT STAYED. Taisiia Heorhiivna Tarasova, 82 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED. Taisiia Heorhiivna Tarasova, 82 years old.
'I am not afraid,' stated TAISIIA HEORHIIVNA TARASOVA, 82, who decided to remain as the Russian invasion rages and lives alone in her apartment in Kyiv. She didn't evacuate due to health issues related to stomach cancer and felt it would be too difficult to travel.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Taisiia Heorhiivna Tarasova, 82, decided to remain as the Russian invasion rages and lives alone in her apartment in Kyiv. Portraits of herself as a young woman and loved ones and line the walls where she sits alone with her memories.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TAISIIA HEORHIIVNA TARASOVA, receives food and medicine from a group of residents that formed a humanitarian network called 'Angels of Kyiv.' There are no more relatives to care for her. Once eight lived in the apartment but now portraits of herself as a young woman and loved ones and line the walls where she sits alone with her memories.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
After three surgeries to treat her cancer, TAISIIA HEORHIIVNA TARASOVA has lost almost half her body weight and is frail like a tiny bird, but her spirit remains intact. She receives food and medicine from a group of residents that formed a humanitarian network called Angels of Kyiv to deliver supplies to the elderly and infirm left behind.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LADIES THAT STAYED. Oleksandra Yemelianovna Kulahyna, 93 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED. Oleksandra Yemelianovna Kulahyna, 93 years old.
'I have daughters who live on the other side of Kyiv. They have their own families, their own lives. I don't disturb anyone, I take care of myself,' declares OLEKSANDRA YEMELIANOVNA KULAHYNA, 93 years old, not wanting to be a burden. She receives food and medicine deliveries from a group of residents who formed a humanitarian network called Angels of Kyiv.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
OLEKSANDRA YEMELIANOVNA KULAHYNA, 93, fixes her hair for her portrait to be made, still wanting to look pretty amid disheveled surroundings at her apartment. She has lived in Kyiv since 1944 but is now disabled and has difficulty walking due to a hip injury. She worked as an infectious disease nurse for 43 years. Although she shares memories of WWII, she didn't comprehend that the Russian invasion had begun at first and is unable to evacuate in her condition.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
OLEKSANDRA YEMELIANOVNA KULAHYNA, 93, sits alone whispering prayers and making the sign of the cross over and over again. In times of war there are no easy answers, especially for senior citizens hoping for comfort in their twilight years. Since the war began there have been issues providing social services to the elderly in desperate need.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
A bare lightbulb hangs in the apartment of 93 year old Oleksandra Yemelianovna Kulahyna in Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
OLEKSANDRA YEMELIANOVNA KULAHYNA, 93, prepares for a portrait in her apartment. She receives food and medicine from a group of residents who formed a humanitarian network called Angels of Kyiv that deliver supplies to the elderly and infirm left behind. The founders are neighbors and now service over 1000 people.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LADIES THAT STAYED. Liubov Oleksandrivna Kurdymova, 84 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED. Liubov Oleksandrivna Kurdymova, 84 years old.
'Where should I go? I have nothing but Kyiv,' said LIUBOV OLEKSANDRIVNA KURDYMOVA, 84, at her apartment. A consummate hostess, she insists visitors try a homemade cabbage dish in her kitchen filled with well used cooking pans and memento's. Airstrikes in the suburbs of Kyiv and air raid sirens are a constant reminder of the raging war.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUBOV OLEKSANDRIVNA KURDYMOVA, 84, insists visitors try a homemade cabbage dish and talks about the rocket that landed near their neighborhood. Most of the elderly compare the Russian invasion to WWII. 'I was born on Trukhanov Island. There was a settlement of fishermen with a church, clinic, school. Everything burned down in 1943,' she said.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUBOV OLEKSANDRIVNA KURDYMOVA, 84, chooses not to evacuate. She pours through albums of memories and proudly shows photos of her father in the Red Army and herself as a child in a Ukrainian costume. Her children and grandchildren live in a neighboring district and had visited often before the war, but now she lives alone.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Liubov Oleksandrivna Kurdymova, 84 pours through albums of memories and proudly shows photos of her father in the Red Army and herself as a child in a Ukrainian costume.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUBOV OLEKSANDRIVNA KURDYMOVA, 84, chose to stay during the Russian invasion. With a sweet smile and indomitable spirit, she almost dances as she waves farewell from the doorway of her new normal. Airstrikes in the suburbs of Kyiv and air raid sirens are a constant reminder of the raging war.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Liudmyla Kirichenko, 75 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED: Liudmyla Kirichenko, 75 years old.
' It's very scary, but I won't leave my land,' defiantly states LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75. She has lived in a basement bunker at her apartment building in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75, inside her basement bunker which is dark, damp and cold, lit only by candles or flashlights. There is no water or electricity.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75, has difficulty walking up to her damaged apartment on the eighth floor since the elevators are not working now. And she is scared. She never goes farther than 20 meters from the basement. Though not far enough to be a real bomb shelter, it at least provides some degree of psychological safety.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Liudmyla Kirichenko, 75 years old, prepares what food she has in her basement bunker. Her little corner of compassion has become a way-station for humanitarian aid that she prepares for neighbors. 'Someone must keep order and help others. Volunteers bring me food and I distribute it to the rest of those who stayed here. I have to think not only about today, but also for a few days ahead'.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, outside her basement bunker where she has lived near her apartment building since the beginning of the Russian invasion. 'I have to think not only about today, but also for a few days ahead' she states. 'Volunteers' cars may break down, they may not be able to get here due to shelling, and we will all be left without food.' Folks stop at her door for a carton of potatoes and a kiss.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, gets some comfort from her cats. She has lived in a basement bunker at her apartment building since the beginning of the Russian invasion in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka in Kharkiv,
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Sheltering residents in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka in Kharkiv, use pigeons as a barometer, when they fly away it is (rockets) incoming and time to go underground.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, who has lived in a basement bunker at her apartment building since the beginning of the Russian invasion in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka. An unlikely alliance of necessity has blossomed into a friendship with Sasha Zolotov who lives in another part of the basement with her. Before the war they would simply bid each other an occasional hello in the hallway.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Liudmyla Kirichenko, 75 years old, has lived in a basement bunker at her apartment building since the beginning of the Russian invasion in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka in Kharkiv. They are charming, strong-willed elderly babushkas. In the face of adversity, they are ladies that stayed. They are vulnerable targets of random shelling. But they can't or simply won't leave.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75, hugs a Ukrainian soldier outside her basement bunker below her apartment building in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka, Kharkiv.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, outside her basement bunker where she has lived near her apartment building since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'It's very scary, but I won't leave my land,' defiantly states Liudmyla Kirichenko, 75, who has lived in a basement bunker below her apartment building since the beginning of the Russian invasion. She has difficulty walking up to her damaged apartment on the eighth floor since the elevators are not working now and she is scared. She never goes farther than 20 meters from the safety of the basement.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75, smiles and holds a huge bunch of flowers outside her basement bunker in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka. The bunker is dark, damp and cold, lit only by candles or flashlights. There is no water or electricity. But she always has a bucket filled with exquisite flowers adorning the entrance of her hovel. Neighborhood children bring her lilacs and tulips.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, sits by candlelight in a basement bunker near her apartment building in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka. The bunker is dark, damp and cold, lit only by candles or flashlights. There is no water or electricity.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, sits by candlelight in a basement bunker at her apartment building in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka. The bunker is dark, damp and cold, lit only by candles or flashlights. There is no water or electricity.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LIUDMYLA KIRICHENKO, 75 years old, rests with her cats by candlelight in a basement bunker at her apartment building in the heavily shelled neighborhood of Saltivka. The bunker is dark, damp and cold, lit only by candles or flashlights. There is no water or electricity.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Tamara Semenivna Komadovskie and her husband Pavlo Sergiyovych, both 88 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED: Tamara Semenivna Komadovskie and her husband Pavlo Sergiyovych, both 88 years old.
TAMARA SEMENIVNA KOMADOVSKIE exclaims like a teenager as she looks at an old hand tinted photo of herself. Tamara and her husband Pavlo Sergiyovych, both 88 years old decided to stay at their apartment during the Russian invasion. They met when they were 12 and have been married 64 years. Former lives now memories as artillery strikes echo in the suburbs of their city. But they have each other.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TAMARA SEMENIVNA KOMADOVSKIE and her husband PAVLO SERGIYOVYCH, both 88 years at their apartment during the Russian invasion. They compare this to WWII, although the perspective would have been different had they been Jewish. 'Oh, there was a war once. I was 9, and the Germans were fascists,' said Tamara. 'No, they were human. They bring us a jar of stew, bread.. for everyone, this is how children were treated, and now they are being killed, these fascists are killing children.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Walking canes belonging to Tamara Semenivna Komadovskie and her husband Pavlo Sergiyovych, both 88 years old. They receive food and medicine from a group of local residents who formed a humanitarian network called Angels of Kyiv that deliver supplies to the elderly and infirm left behind.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Tamara Semenivna Komadovskie and her husband Pavlo Sergiyovych, both 88 years old decided to stay at their apartment during the Russian invasion in Kiev. She was an English teacher and Pavlo a former military pilot flying a Yak-26. Former lives now memories as artillery strikes echo in the suburbs of their city.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
PAVLO SERGIYOVYCH and his wife Tamara, both 88 years old decided to stay at their apartment during the Russian invasion in Kiev, they have been married for 64 years. Pavlo a former military pilot flying a Yak-26 and Tamara was an English teacher.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Galyna Ivanivna, 75 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED: Galyna Ivanivna, 75 years old.
'I was born in this house and in this house I will die,' says GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75 years old, at her home located on a street littered with rubble and burned tanks in Bucha, She worked all her life as an ambulance medic, but her twilight years were altered by the Russian invasion and occupation.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75, at her home located on a street littered with rubble and burned tanks in Bucha. 'Russians came to my home; they watched if anyone was hiding there. I went to the basement three days after the massacre. It's very cold, we have broken windows, doors, everything is broken,' she explained. Initially there were more than 500 people in that basement. On March 8 they were given a green corridor so people could leave. And many people walked to Kyiv, but Galyna decided to stay.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75 , with her dog outside her home in Bucha. Her home was spared major damage, but just outside is a street dubbed 'tank alley' destroyed after liberation of Bucha. She chose to stay with her husband in a bunker as fierce fighting raged and bodies lined the streets, some executed with hands tied behind their backs.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Galyna Ivanivna prepares a simple meal with fresh bread at her home where she and her husband still live on a street littered with rubble and burned tanks in Bucha.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'I was born in this house and in this house I will die,' says GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75, at her home located on a street littered with rubble and burned tanks in Bucha. Russians came to her home during the invasion. 'Im mad at them, why did they come here? For them, humans are nothing. One killed there, next killed there. It was terrible, my soul ached for everyone'.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Galyna Ivanivna, 75 years old, shows damage to walls after bombing's at her home located on a street littered with rubble and burned tanks in Bucha, Ukraine.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75 years old, shows damage to walls after bombing's at her home located on a street littered with rubble and burned tanks in Bucha.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75 years old, at her home in Bucha. She worked all her life as an ambulance medic, but her twilight years were altered by the Russian invasion and occupation. 'Russians came to my home; they watched if anyone was hiding there. I went to the basement three days after the massacre. 'It's very cold, we have broken windows, doors, everything is broken,' she explained.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
GALYNA IVANIVNA, 75 years old, walks outside her home in Bucha. Her home was spared major damage, but outside is a street dubbed 'tank alley' that was devastated. Galyna chose to stay with her husband in a bunker as fierce fighting raged and bodies lined the streets, many executed. 'I'm mad at them. Why did they come here? For them, humans are nothing. It was terrible, my soul ached for everyone. I was not so scared as sorry,' she said sadly. 'Evil took over.' But with determination, she ended by passionately declaring 'Long live our state. Long live our nation. We will live.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Vanda Kaleniuk, 81 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED: Vanda Kaleniuk, 81 years old.
'You sit in the basement, it shoots, something explodes. You want to lie down, just quiet down. You go to the house and they start again,' wept VANDA KALENIUK, 81, at her home as she talks about living through the Russian occupation and rocket attacks in Bucha.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
With tears in her eyes, VANDA KALENIUK, 81, sits at home as she talks about living through the Russian occupation in Bucha. 'And before dawn they always fired the most (rockets).' She stayed in a bunker at her daughter's home next door with other babushkas from the neighborhood. After the liberation of the town in the suburbs of Kyiv, residents found many areas in ruins, bodies littering the streets and reports of atrocities.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VANDA KALENIUK, 81 sits outside her home in Bucha. Vanda tends to her garden that is bursting with life again. 'I plan to live more, I have 5 great-grandchildren, a son and a daughter. A big family to live with.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Bucha resident VANDA KALENIUK, 81 years old holds an old fading black and white photo of her when she was young with her husband. Vanda lights a candle and says a prayer to her husband that she lost decades ago but still deeply misses and mourns. 'I had a very good husband, a golden man. He could find me in the city without knowing where I had gone. He always felt me. And now when I forget or lose something I go to pray and ask him for help and in a couple of hours I find what I need.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VANDA KALENIUK, 81, walks with a stick outside her home as she talks about living through the Russian occupation. These local women have to navigated rubble-strewn streets to receive humanitarian aid. Vanda's daughter makes borscht and homegrown blueberry tea. 'I plan to live more, I have 5 great-grandchildren, a son and a daughter. A big family to live with.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VANDA KALENIUK, 81, collects basic food necessities outside her home as she talks about living through the Russian occupation. She sheltered in a bunker at her daughter's home next door with other babushkas. After the liberation of the town in the suburbs of Kyiv, residents found many areas in ruins, bodies littering the streets and reports of atrocities.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VANDA KALENIUK, 81, in her bedroom at home as she talks about living through the Russian occupation in Bucha. Vanda tends to her garden that is bursting with life again. Her daughter makes borscht and homegrown blueberry tea. 'I plan to live more, I have 5 great-grandchildren, a son and a daughter. A big family to live with.' For now, there is peace in Bucha.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Bucha Babushkas.
© LADIES THAT STAYED: Bucha Babushkas.
VANDA KALENIUK looks down stairs at the basement bunker where she hid with Tetiana, Lyudmila, Halyna and other babushkas five children at the home of her daughter Natalia during the Russian occupation in Bucha.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Bottles filled with water inside a bunker where a group of babushkas hid with other residents during the Russian occupation in Bucha.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
NATALIIA STANISLAVIVNA OSKOLKOVA shows the bunker where her mother Vanda and other babushkas Tetiana, Lyudmila and Halyna hid during the Russian occupation. After liberation of the town, they found many areas in ruins, bodies littering the streets and reports of atrocities.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LYUDMILA MIKHAILOVNOA DVORNIK, HALYNA ANATOLIIVNA YAKOVENKO and VANDA KALENIUK are part of a group of babushkas that hid in the basement bunker of Vanda's daughter during the Russian occupation in Bucha. Fortunately, all their homes were spared damage and the women navigate rubble-strewn streets to receive humanitarian aid. Now they eat borscht and make blueberry tea and reminisce. They still have each other.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
One of the neighborhood babushkas walks past a body laying in the street. War crimes investigators pulled bodies from a mass grave and makeshift burials sites. Three men lay dead in a garden on the corner of the street. One of the men had stayed to care for his dog, which was also killed by the invading Russian forces.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
HALYNA ANATOLIIVNA YAKOVENKO weeps as she looks at the body of a neighbor's dog that was killed. She is part of a group of babushkas that hid in the basement bunker with other residents and five children during the Russian occupation in Bucha,
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LYUDMILA MIKHAILOVNOA DVORNIK looks out the entrance of her home. She still gets together with other babushkas at the only home in their neighborhood with heat where they hid during the occupation.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, LYUDMILA MIKHAILOVNOA DVORNIK and HALYNA ANATOLIIVNA YAKOVENKO gather with other babushkas at the only home in their neighborhood with heat where they hid during the occupation and proudly put up a Ukrainian flag for a group portrait.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
After the Busha massacre and liberation of the town by ukrainian forces, Vanda, Tetiana, Lyudmila and Halyna gather together to enjoy borscht soup and make blueberry tea and reminisce. They still have each other.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VANDA KALENIUK, TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, LYUDMILA MIKHAILOVNOA DVORNIK and HALYNA ANATOLIIVNA YAKOVENKO are part of a group of babushkas that hid in the basement bunker with other residents during the Russian occupation. They gather at the only home with heat and show photos made by Natalia's daughter of smoke from airstrikes rising over their homes.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Gathering with other babushkas at the only home in their neighborhood with heat, Vanda Kaleniuk, Tetiana Serhiivna Petrovska, Lyudmila Mikhailovnoa Dvornik and Halyna Anatoliivna Yakovenko view photos made on Nataliia's daughters camera of smoke from airstrikes rising over their homes during the Russian invasion.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
VANDA KALENIUK, TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, LYUDMILA MIKHAILOVNOA DVORNIK, HALYNA ANATOLIIVNA YAKOVENKO are part of a group of babushkas that hid in the basement bunker of Vanda's daughter Natalia during the Russian occupation. They still gather at the only home in their neighborhood with heat where they hid during the occupation and proudly put up a Ukrainian flag for a group portrait.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
NATALIIA STANISLAVIVNA OSKOLKOVA kisses her husband after an evening with the neighborhood babushkas. They still have each other. After liberation of the town, they found many areas in ruins, bodies littering the streets and reports of atrocities. War crimes investigators pulled bodies from a mass grave and makeshift burials fsites.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
Tetiana Serhiiivna Petrovska, 72 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED: Tetiana Serhiiivna Petrovska, 72 years old.
'Everything was very scary, constant explosions, gun fire,' said TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72, as she sits in her home after the liberation of Bucha. Wreckage and bodies littered her neighborhood, but her home was spared. She was born in Belarus and moved here as a teenager. She and her husband Volodymyr did not have the opportunity to leave as they had no car.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72 and her husband Volodymyr Yevheniiovych Babianskyi, 75, hid in the basement bunker of neighbors with other babushkas and five children during the Russian invasion. She has not seen her daughter or grandchildren that live in the Crimea for 8 years.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72, collects some basic food items outside her home after the liberation of Bucha. She still gathers with other babushkas at the only home in their neighborhood with heat where they hid during the occupation. But now they eat borscht and make blueberry tea and reminisce. They have each other.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
'Everything was very scary, constant explosions, gun fire,' said TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72, as she sits in her home after the liberation of Bucha, She has not seen her daughter or grandchildren that live in the Crimea for 8 years. Her son lives in nearby Kyiv and is now a member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense. She is often overcome with emotion, both tears and sweet smiles, offering strangers the warmest of hugs. She uses the only words she knows in English 'I love you.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72, is comforted by her husband VOLODYMYR YEVHENIIOVYCH BABIANSKYI, 75, as she sits in her home after the liberation of Bucha. Unlike many other residents they did not have the opportunity to leave the first days of the Russian invasion since they had no car.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72, sits in her home after the liberation of Bucha. Unlike many other residents she did not have the opportunity to leave the first days of the Russian invasion since she had no car. She is often overcome with emotion, both tears and sweet smiles, offering strangers the warmest of hugs. She uses the only words she knows in English: 'I love you.'
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
TETIANA SERHIIVNA PETROVSKA, 72 and her husband VOLODYMYR YEVHENIIOVYCH BABIANSKYI, 75 hid in the basement bunker of neighbors with other babushkas and five children during the Russian invasion. Her son lives in nearby Kyiv and is a former peacemaker, who is now a member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
LADIES THAT STAYED. Nadia Panasivna Yerukhymovych, 89 years old.
© LADIES THAT STAYED. Nadia Panasivna Yerukhymovych, 89 years old.
NADIA PANASIVNA YERUKHYMOVYCH, 89, had been bedridden for three months in Kyiv as the Russian invasion began. Sounds of shelling on the outskirts of the city echo on her walls and an airstrike recently hit the neighborhood. She receives food and medicine from a group of residents that formed a humanitarian network called Angels of Kyiv to deliver supplies to the elderly and infirm left behind.
© Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press Wire
