The bitter face of war
Photographed by Ercin Erturk
A Ukrainian soldier Sergey Raylyan, lost his eyes and feet during a car explosion on an anti-tank mine in 2022 near the city of Maryinka in the Donetsk Oblast. Then commander of a mortar artillery group of the 79th Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 26-year-old Raylyan was seriously wounded when he and his fellow soldiers drove a pickup truck into an anti-tank mine. Sergey was with his wife Valeria in Kyiv in July 2023, to receive physical and psychological treatment. Despite this particular situation, the couple was amazingly strong, positive and cheerful. He joined the Ukrainian army at the age of 18, as it was his childhood dream. This is the bitter face of the war that Russia has been waging on Ukraine for almost two years now. More than 10,000 civilians were killed since Feb. 24, 2022, according to the United Nations.
- Award
- Honourable mention, One Frame
- Competition
- Shoot The Frame Annual Portrait Awards 2025
- Photographer
- Ercin Erturk · Photographer page
