Tanks, soldiers, explosions and tears are the cliches that movies and news reels show us. The reality is an integration of horror and the mundane, as those who have chosen to stay cling to as much normality as they can
“I often have the same dream: that I’m trying to get home,” says Elena Lebedeva, setting out tea and sandwiches in the tiny kitchen of her rented flat. “There’s always some checkpoint, obstacle, something in the way. I keep going – walking, running, crawling – but I never manage to reach it.”
Home for Lebedeva is Opytne, a tiny village – one school, no supermarkets – just outside Donetsk.
Elena Lebedeva with her husband, Rodion, outside their new apartment block in Kryvyi Rih, 2023
