Ukrainian soldier’s daughter asks when her father will come home

Two-year-old Snijana asks when her father will come home. Her father, Yevheniy Borisenko, serves in an artillery brigade in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. His family lives in Boryspil, near Kyiv.

Yevheniy and his wife, Alina, married in 2023. Their daughter was born the following year. The serviceman’s visits home are rare and often brief. His military duties repeatedly force him to return to the front.

Video call interrupted by sounds of explosions

Several explosions nearby interrupted a video call between Yevheniy and his daughter. “All right, my bunny, I’ll call you later,” he told Snijana as they said goodbye.

Alina described her husband’s visits as unexpected events: “Every time he comes to me, it feels like a miracle, a surprise. Then his colleagues call him: ‘Go back there again!’ And everything inside me breaks all over again.”

Missile and drone attacks

The Borisenko family’s experience reflects the situation of many Ukrainian families separated from loved ones serving at the front. Fighting continues in the east, while missile and drone attacks carried out by Russia also reach cities far from the battlefield.

An apartment building near the area where the family lives was seriously damaged in one of the latest attacks. Yevheniy said he worries about his family when Russian drones approach. Alina said she tells the children that the sounds of explosions are thunder in an effort to protect them from fear.

“I don’t want my child to hear these explosions,” Yevheniy said.

Family wants to stay together

Despite the dangers, Alina stressed that she wanted to remain with her family and husband. “I will stay here. My older daughter was born here, my younger daughter was born here, my husband is here, and my mother-in-law is here. I want to be here,” she said.

Her decision comes as Ukraine faces threats from Russian attacks, including rocket-propelled drones and ballistic missiles. Civilian casualties in the country are rising. Although the number of civilian casualties in Russia is lower, it has increased sharply this year.

For families such as the Borisenkos, war is measured not only by explosions and fighting at the front. It also means missed reunions, interrupted calls and children waiting for the day their parents come home.