Amira Barkhush

An Azerbaijani national who joined the Russian army speaks out, haunted by rotting corpses, extortion, and betrayal by the forces he served.

Selver Hrustic, callsign Serb, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, thought joining the Russian army was his way out of legal trouble in Europe. They promised him a lawyer after serving in the Russian army. Then, he was sent on a deadly mission in Ukraine. “You are people who signed contracts to kill other people for money,” said the Russians.

Waddah Khaled Kareem came to Russia for a job; instead, he was beaten into a military contract he couldn’t read and sent on a 26-hour mission through industrial pipelines with a single magazine of ammunition.

The term “Human Safari” sounds like a premise from a dystopian fictional novel, but for those living along the Dnipro River, it isn’t the case. It’s the name Ukrainian locals and journalists have given to Russia’s campaign of drone terror, where FPV drones are deployed not for military objectives but to hunt down civilians.

With winter coming, Russia has been increasing its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, leaving cities without essential services like heat, water, or electricity. Despite these harsh challenges, children’s clubs in Ukraine are adapting to the outages, utilizing charging stations and generators.

Studying underground has become the reality for many Ukrainian children living in close proximity to the border with Russia and the frontline. We visited two kindergartens in Zaporizhzhia and Vilniansk, a city in the region, to see how the kids celebrate St. Nicholas Day underground.