Wives With Belongings Of Their Husbands, Fallen Ukrainian Defenders In The Russian-Ukrainian War

ZAPORIZHZHIA, UKRAINE - MAY 13: Iryna, the wife of the fallen Ukrainian defender Vitalii Chuiko, wears her husband’s dog tag during a photo shoot for the project “Beloved, I Live!” on May 13, 2023 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. To provide psychological support to wives whose husbands were killed in the war, volunteers in Zaporizhzhia created a project called “Beloved, I Live!”. The project lasts for 2 months and includes 8 meetings, which are divided into two parts: the first is a closed psychological session where wives work through the psychological aspects of their loss, and the second is various types of art therapy and physical activities to strengthen emotional recovery. An obligatory part of the project is the psychological processing of loss through photography with the things left behind by the husband. Each wife chooses the items to be photographed, and some of them have no choice because after the death of their spouse, they only have a military badge, awards, or a child. Later, the support group meets once a month to continue group therapy on the path to psychological recovery. (Photo by Elena Tita/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)