"Anastasiya Buchkouska, a 20-year-old student from western Ukraine, gently brushes away layers of snow and ice from her father's grave. She pauses, looking up at the photograph fixed to the gravestone. His face bears a striking resemblance to hers. When her father was younger, he had served in the military. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he was called up almost immediately and sent to the front line."
"Contact with the family was sporadic at best. They clung to brief messages and fleeting signs of life until one day in September 2022, everything fell silent. For seven months, he was officially listed as missing. Buchkouska said she held on to hope, though deep down she feared the worst. When confirmation of his death finally came, grief hit hard, but amid the demands of war, she said she had little choice but to deal with it."
Grief and resilience shape daily life in Ukraine as families cope with losses from the Russian invasion. In Lviv, 20-year-old Anastasiya Buchkouska tends her father's grave after he was called to the front soon after the February 24, 2022 invasion. Contact became sporadic and he was listed missing for seven months before confirmation of his death. Buchkouska cared for an inconsolable grandmother while managing her own sorrow and continuing daily responsibilities. Lychakiv Cemetery expanded beyond its walls after a surge in early-2022 deaths, and burial space is becoming scarce. Exact casualty figures remain difficult to verify.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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