houses, maternity hospitals, civil infrastructure
destroyed, I am very angry and I really want
to kill some of them.
Before the war my job was in the city
council, speaking to citizens, resolving
problems and making the city of Kyiv a better
place. My life was stable and I knew what to
expect. Svitoslav, my boyfriend [now husband],
and I were planning our life together, talking
about getting married. I was thinking about
my dress and thinking about how to create
a beautiful ceremony, also how to finish
renovating my flat, what colour sofa I should
pick. The war changed everything in a second.
My boyfriend called me at 6am and told
me that the war has begun. I stood up from
my bed and went to see my mother. I could
hear my parents already in the kitchen
talking about something and they looked
at me. The next question was what to do. Do
I join the territorial defence force or become
a volunteer? My hands were burning with a
wish to help somehow. I didn’t know what to
expect, because I was told that the RussianThe Times Magazine 29n the days and weeks since the first
bombs fell on Ukraine on the morning
of February 24, the world has witnessed
the power of civilian resistance. As
Russian tanks rolled in, thousands of
Ukrainians – mothers, fathers, teens,
lovers and even entire families – packed
their bags and presented themselves at
military bases, ready to take up arms.
The mass mobilisation of Ukraine’s
territorial defence force, formed in response
to conflict in Donbas eight years ago, saw
more than 100,000 civilians sign up in Kyiv
alone since the start of the war. They have
been equipped and trained in basic combat.
Among the force are many young women,
some just 18.
Mikhail Palinchak, a 37-year-old street and
reportage photographer – and the former
official photographer to President Zelensky’s
predecessor, Petro Poroshenko – has been
documenting their daily lives over the past six
weeks. Among his subjects is Yaryna, 21, who
decided to get married on the day the warstarted. She sent her boyfriend a message on
the morning of February 24. They tied the
knot hours later.
Here, we meet the designers, university
students and wedding planners who became
frontline paramedics, guards and armourers
in the brutal battle for their country.Yaryna, 21, works for Kyiv City Council
My husband taught me how to use a gun,
but I haven’t ever shot the one I am carrying
around with me. And I hope I won’t. Or
maybe I hope I will, because I am so full
of anger. When I see the news about
men, children, women killed and raped,I
Solomia, 19 University student‘I WOULD KILL FOR MY
INDEPENDENCE, FOR
MY FREEDOM AND FOR THE
FREEDOM OF OUR LAND’
PUTIN’S WAR