Images of a family’s kitchen in Ukraine — exposed to the world when a Russian missile ripped off the outer wall of the building — caused shock and sadness on social media.
The apartment belonged to the well-known boxing trainer Mikhailo Korenovski, killed in the attack on Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, last Saturday (14). His wife and children reportedly survived.
A video of Korenovski celebrating a recent family birthday in the same apartment was also posted.
The attack in Dnipro killed 40 people and is considered one of the most brutal since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began 11 months ago.
Victims include three children, and more than 30 people were still missing as of Monday night (16).
The image impresses with the strong contrast between normal and abnormal; the domestic life of the cozy kitchen is framed by the sudden and utter devastation wrought by the Russian attack.
The modern-looking kitchen with bright yellow cabinets remained remarkably intact after the attack, although its outer wall was completely destroyed.
A fruit bowl on the table is full of apples, the dishes by the sink are waiting to be washed, and the oven mitts hang neatly on a hook.
“Here people cooked, chatted, celebrated holidays, laughed, argued,” Kyiv MP Zoya Iarosh wrote on Facebook.
She likened the building’s destruction to the fate of her country: “These are the wounds on Ukraine’s body. Wounds in our homes.”
On social media, many highlighted the small details in the photograph, suggesting that the family was living in the best possible way despite the war.
“When I look into this kitchen, all I see is the apartment I grew up in, the apartment my grandparents lived in, the apartment my cousins lived in, because we all had two little stools tucked under the kitchen table like that.” the Ukrainian Alina on Twitter.
Before the missile attack, the kitchen appears to have been the scene of a happy family moment — a child’s birthday party.
In a video posted online and reposted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a girl smiles as she receives a huge birthday cake and blows out the four candles on top of it. The same yellow cupboards are clearly visible, as are the oven mitts and the television on the wall.
The people in the video are believed to be Mikhailo Korenovski’s family. The family supposedly survived the attack, while the boxing trainer did not.
It is not clear when the video was filmed, but it is a stark reminder of how war can suddenly destroy lives.
“Maybe it was him [Korenovski] who bought those apples for the family, left on the table after the building collapsed,” said Russian BBC journalist Liza Fokht. “Or maybe it was he who left a plate in the sink —[pensando que] there will always be time to wash afterwards.”
– This text was originally published here.
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