Coffee

In childhood, I was born in Lutsk, but all my relatives are from the east of Ukraine, namely from the Luhansk region, so I spent every summer there. I always stayed either at one grandmother's house or another, or with my favorite aunts. For me, these are places of childhood memories with the taste of ripe watermelon, neighbor's raspberries, fried potatoes, and grandpa's "coffee". The smell of steppe flowers, especially thyme, and the feeling of warm wind. Memories of how my sisters and I ran barefoot in the grass to the river, caught frogs in the reeds, and collected seashells. Bilokurakyno, Rubizhne, Varvarivka, Privilia - these were the settlements of my carefree childhood that are now under Russian occupation. Everything that is dear and close to me is being ruthlessly destroyed. Every time my grandmother or aunt miraculously get in touch with us, we hear, "gone missing, beaten, raped, harassed, imprisoned, killed...". The "Russian world" has intruded upon my sweet childhood memories. That's why I can't stay silent. I cannot work on topics unrelated to the war because I simply cannot stop thinking about it. It has completely infiltrated my life. In my project, I have decided to reflect on my childhood, which has been cursed by the war and has left its mark even on my memories.