The first photo is the Ukraina Hotel. Well, what’s left of it. This is where the marshrutky, the minibuses used by thousands of students and workers who commute to Kyiv (I just can’t use the past tense), depart from.

Over there, a little bit to the right, where the Chashka café used to be, is where my parents usually wave, when they see me off, although I’ve been going away from them for nearly two decades.

On the second photo is the Gagarin Stadium, where Chernihiv’s Desna FC plays. I never made it there, though I always dreamed about the Euro Cup in Chernihiv. Actually, the Stadium really needed repairs, but I don’t think they were planning to demolish it using missiles.

It is impossible to measure wars, to measure tragedies or degrees of hate. The histories of Kharkiv, Hostomel and Mariupol already contain hundreds and thousands of volumes of crimes. But, there will also be thousands of volumes under the letter C [for Chernihiv].

For the past several weeks, Chernihiv and its surroundings were being erased from the face of the earth. A thousand-year-old city blocking the way to Kyiv. Chernihiv’s Ukraina is at the intersection of Peace and Victory Avenues. The price for the future peace and victory is hellish. But they will come. Because life is stronger than death, and light is stronger than darkness.

Iryna, Koriyukivka, Chernihiv Oblast