LOVE IN A WAR ZONE

Four years into the war with Russia, young couples in Ukraine are navigating new pathways to romance. From wild nights with midnight curfews, to lining up at government-backed IVF clinics and texting on the frontlines, love continues to find a way despite impossible circumstances.

- PHOTOGRAPHY IDO VOCK WORDS FRANCES MAO

On the night before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vlada Somka had a fight with her boyfriend, Anton. They were 22 and at home in Kyiv. Russian tanks were about to roll over the border into Ukraine, triggering the largest war in Europe in 80 years.

“We argued a lot that night, and he said no-one in the 21st century would take up weapons, it won't happen. They said we would have to flee the country, but it won't happen,” Vlada recalls.

But the war changed everything. For Anton, it became a countdown to his 25th birthday. Ukrainian men between 25 and 60 are conscripted into the army, and few exemptions are granted. So he enlisted instead, joining a special forces unit. He packed his AeroPress coffee maker and film camera, and in January was dispatched to the Sumy border region, one of the hotspots of the war.

Vlada, meanwhile, has continued life in Kyiv. On her hour-long commutes to university, she'll record voice messages for him: updates on the coffee date with his mum, struggles with her coursework, where did he put the screwdriver and what's the password for the electricity account again? Out in the trenches, Anton registers the text bubbles coming through. He'll save them for later, to listen to in his bunk: little salvos of ordinary life narrated in her voice.

They've been doing this for a few months now. “It’s a process,” Vlada says. “We're getting used to the situation.”

They met seven years ago at a school dance. He blew her away with his moves, and at the end they stole away for a kiss. That was just the start: enrolling at the same university, taking ski trips and flights criss-crossing Europe. A few years ago, they moved in together. They got a cat, and then a dog.