Bloodied and bandaged, she became the face of Ukraine’s war following Russia’s initial invasion in early 2022.
And, although her wounds have healed, Olena Kurylo’s expression tells a story of her country’s continuing agony, as she gazed sadly into the camera while cowering in fear of an airstrike yesterday.
More than two years after the war broke out, the 54-year-old woman took a self-portrait crouching in her bathroom in the Kharkiv region.
It comes as Ukraine begins mass evacuations from the area as Russian troops launched a ground attack near the northeastern city, opening a new front in the war.
‘We won’t sleep again. “Just now the tenth air raid alert of the night has arrived,” Ms Kurylo said.
Bloodied and bandaged, Olena Kurylo (pictured) became the face of Ukraine’s war after Russia’s initial invasion in early 2022.
And, although her wounds have healed, Olena Kurylo’s expression tells a story of her country’s continuing agony, as she gazed sadly into the camera while cowering in fear of an airstrike yesterday.
‘I haven’t closed my eyes, but I can’t run down to the basement because I’m so exhausted after another sleepless night.
‘We are at the limit due to fatigue. There hasn’t been a single quiet night in weeks.
The defiant teacher, who was treated in Britain for damage to her eye following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in 2022, said: “We are not leaving. This is our land. This is home. There is no reason why our huge neighbor is destroying us. There is no excuse for millions of lives destroyed.
“We all know that’s exactly their goal: to exhaust us and force us to abandon the city so they can take it.”
Yesterday’s ground attack in the Kharkiv region comes just days after a wave of missile, kamikaze drone and artillery attacks against the city.
Shocking images and footage from the devastated city showed residential buildings on fire and debris strewn across the streets as rescuers struggled to extinguish the flames.
Shocking images and footage from the devastated city showed residential buildings on fire and debris strewn across the streets as rescuers struggled to extinguish the flames.
At the site of a Russian missile explosion, three apartment blocks and outbuildings were destroyed and several more were damaged.
Doctors treated an 11-year-old boy and a 72-year-old woman for acute stress.
A senior Ukrainian military source said Russia had advanced into Ukraine just over half a mile and was near the town of Vovchansk.
They said Moscow was trying to “create a buffer zone” to prevent any attacks inside Russian territory.
The advances represent the Kremlin’s biggest ground offensive in the region since its initial invasion, and tens of thousands of Russian forces are said to have gathered on the border.