Lviv, Ukraine, 2024.
Zakhar Biryukov (36), a Ukrainian Special Forces veteran, sits with his son Yehor at Lviv’s Superhumans rehabilitation center. Biryukov was critically injured during a devastating helicopter explosion in Donbas, where he lost both arms, one eye, right leg, and partial hearing. The Russian invasion has inflicted enormous human casualties. Around 1 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the invasion began in 2022. Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy has confirmed that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and around 370,000 wounded. Many have complex fractures, shrapnel injuries, and open wounds from explosions and gunshots.

Photo copyright: ©  Afshin Ismaeli

In this intense and composed image, Afshin Ismaeli manages to portray with rare sensitivity the deepest and most enduring consequences of war—consequences that, unfortunately, are common to all conflicts. The scarred body of a father, a wounded veteran, is mirrored in the silent and fragile presence of his son: two generations bound by a collective wound that goes beyond the individual dimension of the family bond.
This photograph conveys, with poignant immediacy, a universal message: the consequences of war do not end when the fighting is over. The wounds are passed down from generation to generation, leaving a lasting mark not only on those who fought but also on those who inherit that pain.