In Ukraine, one and a half million homes have already been destroyed. Step onto the war-torn soil and witness the devastation.

24.2.2024 06:00
The first thing Svitlana Kulykovska saw were the dogs. Their bodies lay in the middle of the garden. The dogs had been shot. The Kulykovska family fled their home in Kherson in March 2022, two weeks after Russia's war of aggression began. Russian soldiers were within sight already, on a nearby sunflower field. There was military equipment as far as the eye could see. The news of the evacuation convoy came at the last minute. The field, occupied by tanks and soldiers, was now separated from the Kulykovskas’ garden by one deep ditch only.

On the field next to the Kulykovskas’ home, there is an abandoned Russian infantry fighting vehicle.

The departure was quick. Only the most important documents and some clothes were packed. The pet doves were left with two bags of food so that they wouldn’t starve to death. The family's dogs were released. Then it was time to go. The motorcade left from the other side of Pravdyne village. The daughters, Viktoriia and Anastasiia, sat down in the first car and their parents in the second one. The journey began. That day, the Kulykovska family joined a large group of refugees. At the time, they still thought they could return home. Hopefully so soon that the doves wouldn’t go hungry. The family's financial situation had been difficult even before the war. The parents did agricultural work in the nearby fields. They got their food mainly from their own garden: potatoes, beetroots and carrots for storage, tomatoes and cucumbers for canning, apples and pears for jam. When they left their home, they also left their work and livelihood. Therefore, Svitlana Kulykovska was forced to return after the summer. She wanted to fetch canned food and clothes from home. They couldn’t afford new ones.

Viktoriia, Anastasiia and Svitlana Kulykovska at the schoolyard. The school in the village of Pravdyne was severely damaged in bombings. The girls have studied remotely since the beginning of the war.

Russians had occupied the village. Kulykovska asked them if she could fetch food and clothes for her children. One of the soldiers replied. "Go ahead, but don't get killed." Then, she saw the bodies of their dogs on the ground. In the middle of their garden, she found the family’s German shepherd Tyson, Staffordshire terrier Nika, and mixed-breed Barbos. But the shocks of homecoming were only starting to reveal themselves. The dovecot was empty. There was nothing left of the garden. The tanks had crushed the trees, bushes and the vegetable garden. The roof of their home was broken in many places and the windows were shattered. The gable wall of the light blue house had gaping holes fired by a tank gun. Around the holes, the wallpaper had burned and was pitch black

The Kulykovskas’ home from the outside. An infantry fighting vehicle fired at the wall and the windows were shattered.

A view from inside the Kulykovskas’ home. The house can’t be repaired anymore. There is too much damage.

During the years, Kulykovskas renovated the house. The wallpaper they hung up turned black when the house was fired at.

It was filthy inside. It seemed to Kulykovska that the house had been deliberately wrecked. She didn't want to take anything from the house. It was no longer home. Nine months later, Russian soldiers have been driven out of the village. On the wall of Kulykovska's house on the right-hand side of the front door there’s a sentence painted in white letters: “Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. The dovecote is still empty.
Article continues after the 3D view.

Anastasiia (14) and Viktoriia (17) in the house they were born in.

## Olha's Piano Olha Burykina lived in the same room her whole life. From a young age, she suffered from severe depression and other mental health issues. Natasha Burykina tried to seek help for her daughter through art therapy and music, among other things. That’s why Olha had a piano in her room.

Volodymyr Burykin in the hall of his destroyed home.

6 June 2023, Russians blew up the Kakhovka Dam. 18 million cubic metres of water rushed into motion. Water masses also flowed with force to Prybrezhnyi alley where the Burykins lived. Water began to flood the apartment around noon. Olga was afraid of many things. The influx of water made her panic. Olha locked herself in her room and didn’t dare to come out. Her parents tried to coax her, but to no avail. The flood water was ice cold and rose rapidly. The parents didn’t know what to do. In the end, they left Olha in her room. The last thing Olha’s mother did was to tell Olha to get up on the bed and said she loved her daughter.

The Buryakin family home was in Kherson in the Korabel district. Nearly all the houses were destroyed beyond repair when Russians blew up the Kakhovka Dam. The family carried their possessions outside to dry.

The walls destroyed by the flood still hold branches and clay beaten by the water.

An icon of archangel Gabriel on the windowsill in Buryakin’s home.

Then, the parents climbed to the attic of the house. When the water rose there too, they climbed onto the rafters. Volodymyr Burykin pounded the structures of the house with a metal rod so that someone could hear them. Finally, rescue workers from the Ministry of Emergency Situations came to pick them up in an inflatable dinghy. By then, Olha had already drowned.

The photo of Olha Buryakina is decorated with a black ribbon for mourning according to a local custom.

Volodymyr Burykin lost his daughter in the destruction of Kakhovka Dam.

She was found 16 days later in her room, on top of her piano. One of those days was her birthday. Olha would have turned 41.
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The flood water hurled the furniture and the piano around and took the wallpaper and plaster with it.

## Born in the Midst of War Two lines appeared on the pregnancy test. Kateryna Kolotylo showed the test to her husband Ivan. He said right away, “Let's keep it.” Some of their nearest and dearest disagreed. Giving birth to a child on the run felt scary. Kateryna and Ivan stood by their decision. Andrii was born in the middle of the war.

Ivan Kolotylo, the father of the family, and their firstborn son Serhi. Behind them, Kateryna Kolotylo, the mother, and baby Andrii.

The Kolotylo family lives on the outskirts of the village of Myrne. The grandparents moved to the region to work in the kolkhoz when they were young.

The village of Myrne is located in the middle of fields. Straight streets cut through the village between houses and gardens. The Kolotylo family now lives on the furthest-off street again. They were able to return home after more than a year on the run. Unlike usually in wartime, the number of those returning had increased by one. Now, the house is home to Kateryna, Ivan, three-year-old Serhii and Andrii. In addition, the grandparents and currently also a cousin live there. Ivan was the first one to come back. At first, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything. The task seemed impossible.

Andrii was born during the war in Dunaivtsi, a thousand kilometres from his home village.

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Andrii was born during the war in Dunaivtsi, a thousand kilometres from his home village.

Pikkupojat leikkivät seinän edessä, pienempi pojista osoittaa puusta tehdyllä leikkiaseella toista.

The war is reflected in children’s play. Behind the boys, we see the outer wall of the Kolotylos’ shed. The outer walls of the family home were also damaged by shrapnel and bullets. The father, Ivan Kolotylo, mended them with mortar and stones.

With the help of a neighbour, the repair work began. First, the roof was fixed, because it rained in the bedrooms and the floors were covered in mud. The windows of the house were first patched with plastic, but it didn’t hold out. New windows were ordered from Dnipro. The walls were patched with fibreboard, mortar and stones. Part of the house is still out of use due to the risk of collapsing. Ivan has erected temporary pillars to support the roof structures, but it is not safe to stay in the rooms. Renovations require money. In Myrne, people's livelihoods have for a long time come from the fields. The Kolotylo family would like to continue farming. The problem is that there are mines everywhere.

Cousins Oleksandr and Serhii have collected bullet shells in their garden and around it.

Cousin Oleksandr running in front of the Kolotylos’ shed that is full of damage from the war.

For the fields, tax must be paid to the state, even though they cannot be cultivated because of the risk of mines. The villagers have written to the state asking for help in mine clearance. At the moment, Ukraine is considered the most mined country in the world. The demining will very likely take decades. The villagers of Myrne are still waiting for a response from the authorities and exemption from tax. No mine clearers have showed up. Because of that, Ivan Kolotylo plans to buy a metal detector and start clearing out mines and other explosives himself. First, he just has to get one of the family's tractors sold.

Published: 24.2.2024 Journalist: Viivi Berghem Fixers: Maksym Stryzhevskyi & Svitlana Horieva Translation: Katja Juutistenaho Pictures and 3D-scans: Benjamin Suomela Design and 3D models: Annukka Palmén-Väisänen Visual producer: Tatu Blomqvist Technical implementation: Antti Saarenpää Assistant producer: Marikki Oras Text editing: Venla Rossi Producer: Marko Lönnqvist Executive producer: Laura Vehkaoja Editor-in-chief: Ville Vilén