UA women share heartbreaking final texts to lost loved ones in tear-jerking Valentine’s memorial
Valentine’s Day is bittersweet holiday for thousands of Ukrainian women who have lost their friends, lovers, husbands, and relatives to Russia’s war of aggression.
To mark the occasion, this year Ukrainian women are sharing their final messages with their fallen loved ones.
The movement began with a post from Kateryna, who lost her beloved Kostya in the war.
When Melanie Podolyak, the girlfriend of fallen military pilot (callsign) Juice – a hero and celebrity with Western media – saw Kateryna's unread messages, she decided to share the last ones she sent to her partner as well.
Kateryna to Kostya
• Businka, I so hope that you're okay"
• "Kot, you promised me three kids, a bulldog, and to love me very very much all our life"
• "That won't do"
• "Show up"
• "Kooooot"
• "Kostynka, I love you so much"
• "Kot, it just can't be, hear [me]"
Melanie Podolyak to Juice
• "I'm going for a cup of coffee with my friend"
• "Kitty"
• "Where are you"
• "I'm begging you"
• "No"
• "I beg you"
"This kind of reflex is universal from the very first minute...” wrote Podolyak.
“That's why it's important to talk and share the pain. In such moments, you realize that your reaction was normal, and you're not going crazy."
Prompted by these acts of profound personal grief, more Ukrainian women have begun to share their own heartbreaking messages, fostering a shared space for collective grief and memory. NV collected and translated some of them.
Unknown woman to her beloved
• "Will wait for a text"
• "What's going on there?"
• "It's already scary"
• "Hang in there!"
• "I love you"
Unknown woman to her beloved
• "If only you knew how worried I am, but everything will be fine, I believe in it"
• "Just a little bit more. I believe! Just a little bit more."
• "I need you so much! I pray! Hang in there!"
Unknown woman to her beloved
• "Hello... another day has come when messages go unread, when they remain without reply. Another day when we don't know where you are, how you are, what's happening with you."
• "Where are you, my dear..."
• "Kitty"
• "My love"
• "I can't believe it!!!!!"
• "It can't be, do you hear??????"
July 14
• "I really wish you had left on good terms and that everything was good with you."
• "Because it's f..g diffircult."
• "You didn't even leave a single contact number for me to find you."
• "I just can't deal with this."
July 15
• "I can't bear life without you."
• "It's unbearably painful to break down inside from the silence."
• "And I'm afraid this silence will become eternal."
• "If it hasn't already."
• "How could you just leave me."
• "How could you."
• "I love you more than anything, my froggy 😔."
July 16
• "You will never read this, but you will always know it."
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Unknown woman to her beloved
July 30, 2023
• "It's so hard for me without you. I never thought it could hurt so much."
• "You promised me you would be careful!"
• "Kitty, I miss you"
• "I want you to write to me"
• "Your mom came"
• "They're going to take you to us in Lviv"
• "I'm so afraid to see you in that coffin"
• "I don't want to see you in it"
July 31, 2023
• "So, I'm coming to you! I will be brave, as you love! I will cry, very much. Because I love you so much. So you already lost my strength."
• "Kitty, I argued with you. You are so stubborn. And I felt better because I could look at you and touch you."
Unknown woman to her beloved
• "Just remember that I'm always with you, in any situation, forever ❤️"
• "Kyiv"
• "I can't believe it"
• "It's not true"
• "You promised!!!!"
• "We have a child!!!!"
• "You promised everything would be alright"
• "That you would come back"
• "You promised me!"
• "You said everything would be okay"
• "God forbid it's when I heard"
Unknown woman to her beloved or firend
• "And everything's great ❤️"
• "Ihor, how can this be, I don't want to believe it 😭"
• "Maybe it's a mistake"
• "We just saw each other very recently"
• "Answer, please 😭😭😭"
• "We buried you yesterday, and I still can't believe it 💔😓"
Unknown woman to her beloved
April 5
• "Kitten, I went to the military office. They said the identification is tomorrow. They asked for your civil photo, but I don't even have one, we had so few."
• "I know that I love you so much."
• "My love, I'm passing through places where we used to be together. Let's meet in the best places. I love you!"
April 6
• "I'm going to meet with you. I've never seen myself like this. I think you couldn't imagine this either. My love, 7 months ago we were able to kiss for the first time, remember that long-awaited meeting? Maybe, today I will kiss you for the last time –I will be able to do it just in thoughts and dreams going forward."
April 7
• "Kitten, I love you!"
• "You did not make yourself handsome for today's meeting. Not good, my Dear. You are laying still and wounded.”
Unknown woman to her beloved
• “I miss you and I want to hear your voice telling me everything is fine, I really wait for it and I know you'll call soon."
• "I met with Anzhela and picked up your things."
• "Hope you're not freezing there, it's going to be cold today, I missed you."
• "Good morning."
• "How are you? It's sunny here today and it's supposed to be warm. I miss you and am waiting for your call."
• "I miss you."
• "Andriy, where are you??"
Unknown woman to her beloved
• "Yurochka, you're alive"
• "Really?"
• "What they told us isn't true"
• "Answer please I'm begging you we need you here"
• (Audio message sent at 22:26)
• "You can't leave me here, nor Arsen, nor mom and dad, nor Marina, nor Anya, Sasha, Dasha, Temya, you can't leave us here"
• "Answer. I beg you tell me that you're alive"
• "I love you so much, and who will sing at my wedding, you promised"
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
