Before it became the symbol of the resistance of the Ukrainian army, the city of Bakhmout was a lively city, with a pretty city center bordered by a river, green spaces and playgrounds for children. Locals came here to do their shopping or visit the large amusement park on the hill. In the evening, the young people met in Nyzhniy Park to drink beers, go to a restaurant or dance at the disco which was nestled there.
You could sometimes hear shelling, in the distance, on the other side of the border that has delimited the People’s Republic of Donetsk since the 2014 referendum. But on this side, very Ukrainian, life went on almost normally.
It was in Bakhmout, in 2015, that Polish photographer Simona Supino met the Kovalenko family. Swietlana, Miron and their children are living in a center for refugees. The Donbass war forced them to leave their village of Gorlovka, now under the control of pro-Russian forces. In this region, it is no longer a question of learning the Ukrainian language and culture. Little Oksana’s schoolteacher, who taught in Ukrainian, now tells her that this language never existed.
“It was terrible, a real nightmare,” recalls Swietlana, eight years later. “The stores were empty, we were bombarded every day. I saw Russian tanks, jeeps with machine guns, driving around the city. It was terrifying. We didn’t know what the Russians had in mind, if they were going to shoot us like that, on the spot, if we were going to end up dead in the street, like the others. »
You have to choose sides, and the Kovalenko family chooses Ukraine. As their eldest daughter moves to kyiv, Swietlana and Miron begin a new life in Bakhmout. Their grandson Danyil was born a few months later.
For photographer Simona Supino, the fate of the Kovalenkos reveals the complexities of Ukrainian identity. “One day, someone draws a line on a map, and that line is supposed to determine how you feel. Families who live a few kilometers away are now in two different countries, some watching the Ukrainian television news while the others feed on Russian propaganda. »
Each time she goes to Bakhmout, Simona Supino finds her “Ukrainian family”. Swietlana and Miron move into an apartment with their last three children. They go to school, make friends. Swietlana finds work. Their grandson, Danyil, is growing up. Life is not easy but they live in peace, with the hope of earning some money to rebuild a home.
You have 37.07% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.