Номе Front

Months after they fled, ukrainians return home, seeking normalcy-or at least closure. Instead they find rubble and dust.

- By Sasha Maslov

FROM THE PREVIOUS SPREAD:

YURII SIKAN, 59, and Darina Mikhailishina, 51, returned to their Irpin home with their cats two months after they fled. "They are very confused," says Darina. "They know the door should be here and a window there, but it's all gone." After a neighbor posted the couple's story on Facebook, a stranger donated a camper and drove it to Irpin. It is now parked in their driveway. Darina, Yurii, and their cats all live in it, hoping to one day rebuild.

ALLA SEREBINA and Andrii Kuziukov's suburban hometown of Bucha was popular with young families. The night before the war began, Alla and Andrii were online shopping for a new chandelier. After they fled, images of Russian atrocities in Bucha soon began circulating around the world. "My reaction was complete disbelief," Alla says. "How is it possible? They live in towns like ours, they have houses, they have families. How could they do this? I'll never understand that." When they returned to their apartment, Alla and Andrii found that a tank round had pierced the window and three walls and ended up stuck between the bathroom tiles. "We wanted to redo the bathroom anyway," Andrii says dryly.