The Kovalyov brothers and their wives have chosen to spend their final days living without electricity or heating among the ruins of what had been no-man's-land in the war-ravaged village of Posad-Pokrovske in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. As the largest conflict in Europe since World War II enters its second year, tens of thousands of Ukrainians -- primarily the poor, the elderly, or those taking care of sick relatives -- are facing similar hardships.
Elderly Brothers Live Among The Ruins Of A Former No-Man's-Land In Ukraine
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Trenches snake through the ground behind the house of 80-year-old Stepan Kovalyov and his 79-year-old wife, Tetyana, in the village of Posad-Pokrovske, which is about 36 kilometers northwest of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
The village was captured by Russian forces during the invasion on February 25, 2022, the day after Moscow launched what it describes as a "special military operation."
The village was captured by Russian forces during the invasion on February 25, 2022, the day after Moscow launched what it describes as a "special military operation."
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Despite the shattered landscape, the Kovalyov brothers, Stepan (left) and his 77-year-old brother, Volodymyr, have vowed to live out their final days with their wives on their lands. Living off their meager state pensions and relying on relatives and donated food, they realize their lives will not be easy.
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Stepan and Tetyana stand inside their war-damaged home. Many of the buildings in the small village, which had an estimated 2,300 people, were destroyed during the fighting. "We are 80, we’ve worked all our lives in the same garden, and now we’re waiting for death," Stepan said.
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Tetyana recalls returning to her destroyed home and finding that their livestock, which included four cows and dozens of chickens and pigs, were gone.
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Before the war, Stepan and Tetyana worked the land by growing barley and vegetables. Now their fields are unusable due to the mines and unexploded ordnance.
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Tetyana enters the shrapnel-scarred cellar where she and Stepan now live.
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Lit by candles, the cellar her late son Oleksandr had built as a food store is now their home.
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Stepan's brother, Volodymyr, lives a street over with his family and pet cat. He, his wife, Tetyana, and their 21-year-old granddaughter, Svitlana, all live in the only room in the house that still has a roof.
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Tetyana recalls how her house was hit by a shell in October. "There was lots of smoke, I couldn't see anything," she said. "It was raining, and parts of the roof were falling in."
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A destroyed Russian tank rusts near the Kovalyov brothers' destroyed homes.
The clashes coincided with a Ukrainian counteroffensive that eventually pushed Moscow's forces across the Dnieper River.
The clashes coincided with a Ukrainian counteroffensive that eventually pushed Moscow's forces across the Dnieper River.
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Volodymyr repairs a doghouse in front of his shattered home where boards cover the blown-out windows.
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Svitlana, who is disabled, guides the family's cow to the safe part of the fields near their house.
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In a landscape scarred by war, Volodymyr walks his bicycle to a delivery point where volunteers provide food for the last holdouts who still live in the village.
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Tetyana looks out the window of the only room of her house that still has a roof.
Though the brothers occasionally enjoy an odd glass of horilka, a Ukrainian spirit, the couples keep largely to themselves.
Though the brothers occasionally enjoy an odd glass of horilka, a Ukrainian spirit, the couples keep largely to themselves.
