Dailyspark

 'Our husbands didn't go to war for Ukraine so we can sit around crying'

Maria Ivashchenko’s husband Pavlo volunteered to fight the very same day Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Six months later, he was killed as Ukrainian forces went on a counter-offensive in the region of Kherson – making Maria one of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have lost loved ones in the war.

To cope with her grief, Maria has been attending therapy classes organised by a volunteer group called Alive. True Love Stories.

In the sessions, the widows and mothers of fallen fighters express their feelings, and seek solace and closure by painting. They then accompany their paintings with written stories of their love.

Maria says that painting helps externalise and process memories and moments that people can be afraid to re-live.

"There's total trust. No one will judge you, whether you laugh or cry,” she adds. “They understand you unconditionally. There's no need to explain anything.”

"There's a reason why it's called Alive. We came back to life. This project has pulled many of us out of the abyss."

The founder of Alive, Olena Sokalska, says more than 250 women have become involved in her project so far, and there is a waiting list of about 3,000.

Olena says that the paintings generally depict scenes that remind the women of the times they spent with their loved ones or of dreams they had. Some paint themselves or their husbands, Olena adds.

“Very often they paint angels, their families or children are depicted as angels," she says. "These paintings mark the end of the life they had and the beginning of a new life."