the complicated return of soldiers on leave

Kramatorsk station (Ukraine). A welcome ray of sunshine caresses the soldiers’ faces. These soldiers have just obtained leave. Ten days to put aside the horror of their daily lives. Vadim is 27 years old. He volunteered for this war from day one. But he was far from imagining what awaited him. “The reality in Bakhmout is even worse than what we see in the pictures”, he explains. The border guard service to which Vadim belongs has been on the front line in Bakhmout for months.

A short respite

There is even worse than this everyday stress, the death of a friend. “The first week in Bakhmout, I lost a very close friend and I think of him all the time, even today. Fortunately, despite the chaos, I was able to collect his things and send them to his family”, says Vadim. Ten days without hearing bullets and shells whistle. Time suspended, before a new plunge, perhaps, into the hell of Bakhmout.