Haunted by Wars: From Kosovo to Kharkiv

In the stillness of an abandoned Kharkiv home, the echoes of war merge with my memories of Kosovo—each a haunting reminder of humanity’s enduring pain.

In a quiet, cavernous room, lit only by the faint, almost eerie glow of a chandelier, I found myself in a house that had once been full of life. Now, it stands empty, abandoned by a family fleeing the relentless horrors of war. The house, located in Kharkiv, tells a story of loss, of terror, and of survival. The memories that linger in its corridors are heavy with the past—a past that echoes with the same terror that I knew as a child in Kosovo, and that many are now living through in Ukraine.

I came to this house through a web of connections, friends of friends of friends. I found myself surrounded by the remnants of a family's life—a family shattered by Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Some members of this family were killed, others managed to escape the unspeakable horrors and made it back to England. And as I sit here, in the stillness of this once vibrant home, I feel the weight of their absence. It is a weight that brings tears to my eyes, tears that flow not only for them b…