As Kharkiv is struck again, this teacher’s expression tells a story of her country’s ongoing agony – as she stared sorrowfully at the camera while cowering from an airstrike
Bloodied and bandaged, she became the face of the war in Ukraine after Russia’s first invasion in early 2022.
And though her wounds have healed, Olena Kurylo’s expression tells a story of her country’s lingering pain – as she stared sadly at the camera as she cowered after an airstrike yesterday.
More than two years after the outbreak of war, the 54-year-old took a self-portrait while squatting in her bathroom in the Kharkiv region.
It comes as Ukraine begins mass evacuations from the area, while Russian forces launched a ground attack near the northeastern city – opening a new front in the war.
‘We don’t sleep anymore. Just now was the tenth air raid alert of the night,” Ms Kurylo said.
Bloodied and bandaged, Olena Kurylo (photo) became the face of the war in Ukraine after Russia’s first invasion in early 2022
And although her injuries have healed, Olena Kurylo’s expression tells a story of her country’s lingering pain – as she stared sadly at the camera as she cowered after an airstrike yesterday
“I haven’t closed my eyes, but I can’t run to the basement because I’m so exhausted from another sleepless night.
“We are at the end of our tether of fatigue. There hasn’t been a single quiet night for weeks.’
The defiant teacher – who was treated in Britain for damage to her eye following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in 2022 – said: ‘We are not leaving. This is our country. This is home. There is no reason for our great neighbor to destroy us. There is no excuse for millions of broken lives.
“We all know that this is exactly their goal: to exhaust us and make us leave the city so they can take it.”
Yesterday’s ground assault in the Kharkiv region comes just days after a punishing wave of rockets, kamikaze drones and artillery attacks on the city.
Shocking images and footage from the devastated city showed residential buildings on fire and rubble strewn across the streets as rescuers fought to extinguish the fires.
Shocking images and footage from the devastated city showed residential buildings on fire and rubble strewn across the streets as rescuers fought to extinguish the fires
At the site of a Russian rocket explosion, three apartment buildings and outbuildings were destroyed and several others damaged.
An 11-year-old and a 72-year-old woman were treated by doctors for acute stress.
A senior Ukrainian military source said Russia had penetrated just over half a mile into Ukraine and was close to the city of Vovchansk.
They said Moscow was trying to create “a buffer zone” to prevent attacks on Russian territory.
The advance represents the Kremlin’s largest land offensive in the region since the first invasion, and tens of thousands of Russian troops are said to have gathered at the border.