One of many broken homes in Ukraine

There are countless lives forever shattered, destroyed, and ripped apart as a result of 100 days of war in Ukraine. Thousands have lost their lives violently. Surviving individuals sometimes do not know where to start when picking up the pieces.

In a village outside Kyiv, Nila Zelinska and her husband Eduard returned to their home for the first time this week. Shelling in the days following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 reduced it to charred walls with no roof.

“Rex! Rex!” she yelled, calling for the black Labrador they’d been forced to leave behind. Only later did the faithful hound finally reappear, tail wagging under its owner’s loving caresses.

During the bombardments that forced them to leave, Nila Zelinska recalled the terror. As they fled the flames and explosions with her mother, they scooped up her 82-year-old mother and took her into the garden.

Nila Zelinska sobbed in the ruins of her home when she and her husband returned to their village, Potashnya. From the rubble, she recovered a doll that belonged to one of her grandchildren. She held it tightly, as though it was a real child.

2 June 2022