Reference :
V-P-UA-E-00532
Date :
14/07/2016
Caption :
Donetsk. The ICRC helps families find relatives. Elena (right) and her mother Lidia are in the kitchen of Lidia’s home, where Sergey, their son and brother respectively, who is missing since fall 2014, loved to cook.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC website article, 05.10.2016: "Ukraine crisis: Uncertainty on both sides of the contact line. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and grandparents of the missing on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine cope as best they can with an impossible, wholly intolerable situation.
Waiting to discover what has happened to their relatives means living in limbo, denied the chance to mourn or a reason to stop hoping against hope. This uncertainty has a severe emotional, social and economic impact on the loved ones of the missing. [...]
“Sergey was a son to wish for. He did not smoke or drink. Always sporty, although he really liked to cook. He was a wonderful cook. Often he would organize barbecues for friends and family. His sister Elena lives with her family nearby and they were very close to each other,” remembers his mother Lidia.
Lidia cannot bring herself to talk about Sergey’s disappearance. She cannot accept that he has not come back. The last time she heard from him was when her son called her on the phone and said that he could not tell her where he was. He asked her to take care of herself and promised to be back soon. Two years have passed since then.
Lidia and Elena spend time together every day, waiting for Sergey to come back.
The photograph is part of the ICRC exhibition "Uncertainty".
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
5578x3719
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
