At the heart of the war that is putting their country on fire and bloodshed, young Ukrainians refuse to give up. Each in their own way, they chose to participate in the war effort. In a series of unpublished photo reports, the 24 hours tell you their stories.
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A student in Kyiv before the war, Yehor found refuge in Lviv, in a large apartment he shares with 12 other people. Accommodation made available by a young couple who wanted to participate in the war effort by offering a roof over their heads.
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Yehor is of an anxious nature. “I’m afraid of war, and I have a phobia of blood,” he explains. To overcome his fear, he lends a hand to dozens of other people, who make camouflage protection for the Ukrainian army, in a bookstore, in the middle of the books.
Aged between 16 and 70, these volunteers, including Yehor, cut clothes. “Using scissors, we cut clothes from donors, it can even be branded clothes, like a Burberry coat,” he reports.
These pieces of clothing are used by these volunteers to weave camouflage protection for the Ukrainian army. There is great demand from the army in order to conceal the anti-aircraft missile systems, and the barricades that have been put up all over the country.
Russia targets military and civilian targets without distinction, so Yehor feels that he is contributing, in his own way, to the defense of his country and thus protecting his family who is still in Nikopol under the fire of Russian missiles.
Despite his daily presence in the bookstore, Yehor remains worried. He negotiates by telephone the departure of his grandmother, recalcitrant to leave her house and take the road of exodus. “If you die under the Russian bombs, you will have lost everything, and I will be devastated,” he confides as if addressing her. His mother also remained in Nikopol.
While waiting for the arrival of his family, he waits alone in Lviv, and begins to make friends. Like all young people of his age.