“We try to get rid of the misery of the war,” says Lilia. “Not to think all day long about all the horrors in the east.” She is originally from Kiev and has been in Lviv for two months. She thinks it’s too insecure to go back to the capital now.
A little further: funeral of soldiers
A block away, people pour into the church for the funeral of two young soldiers. Funerals are the order of the day here; sometimes it’s two in one day.
Inside it is crowded. Four soldiers stand next to the two coffins of their killed mates, ten more on the side. The young widow of one of the dead soldiers is inconsolable. The other soldier’s parents turn to each other for support.
“Christ is risen,” it sounds in the church, as the coffins are carried outside. Outside, two soldiers with a drum and a trumpet pay their last respects to the dead. Hundreds of people lay flowers on the coffins.
“They could have been my brothers,” says Lilia on the terrace further down. “Because they’re both fighting at the front right now. I don’t know if they’ll survive. Any moment that terrible phone call will come. We’ll never forget the dead. After the war, we’ll build the land of our dreams here, for those who gave their lives for it.”
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