(Karlivka) Svitlana Bovar and her husband Semyon made a deal: she would go ahead while he took care of their son. Her death with weapons in hand changed everything, forcing this widow to join the Ukrainian army.
At the age of 42, Svitlana’s world turned upside down when, on her birthday, she learned of the death of her husband, who had shared her life for almost 20 years.
That was last September. Semyon wanted his son to live peacefully in the country and went to fight against the Russian invasion.
After this sad news, it was unthinkable for Svitlana to stay at home to wait for the end of the war.
“I spent five months begging in enlistment offices,” he told AFP in Kyiv during a military-issued tour of duty.
According to her, her husband understood her decision.
“Sometimes I feel like someone is watching me. I say he is by my side and he is helping me,” she said while recalling her first days at the front near the eastern hot spot of Bagmouth.
“everything will be alright”
According to Deputy Defense Minister Khanna Maliyar, 42,000 women are in the army, of whom 5,000 are fighting on the front lines. However, it is not known how many joined the ranks after the death of their spouses in battle.
Photo by Genia Savilov, Agence France-Presse
Svitlana Bower shows a photo of her dead husband.
At the husband’s note, Svitlana could not hold back tears. She remembers that during their first romantic walk in a park, they joked that they would get married one day.
She wants to finish the work started by her husband.
“We must put an end to this war,” he said. “Not our children”.
However, she did not have the strength to tell her son that he was going to fight in the Donetsk region where Semyon, who served as a sniper, was killed.
But now the teenager studying in Poland understands it. He tries to talk to his mother about the possibility of being killed at the front.
“When he starts talking about it… maybe I’m wrong, but I shrug it off and tell him it’s going to be okay,” she explains.
Evgenia Golnichenko decided to help her country by becoming a combat nurse during her husband’s funeral.
Originally from the eastern front-line town of Avdivka, the 34-year-old was in Poland with her 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old twins when she learned of her husband’s death in Bagmouth in November.
“When he died, I realized someone had to take the torch,” she told AFP, though her husband would not have accepted her going forward.
“People who are not currently fighting must gradually prepare for war. Sooner or later, most of us get engaged,” she says.
“My Sacrifice”
“I work with one idea in mind: ‘As many husbands and fathers as possible can return home'”, he explains, “always remembering that someone is waiting at home for the wounded soldiers he treats.
Yevgenia’s life changed dramatically in a few months.
Before the Russian invasion, she owned an embroidery workshop. Now she works with two other widows and knows others who are ahead.
“Some were so affected by the death of their wives that they also joined the army in one way or another,” he told AFP.
This Ukrainian is well aware of the risks of her commitment: she has already arranged for the protection of her son in case he dies in front of her.
“If you take the situation from an emotional point of view, no one is willing to pay this price,” she says of her husband’s death.
Before adding, make sure that the future of her country also depends on her actions: “That’s why I’m here now. I can die too. That will be my sacrifice.”
